Wings of a Phoenix, Tails of a Fox
by de-raz-bomber
Summary: ON HIATUS, SO SRRY TO YOU FANS I REALLY AM! IF I FIND MORE INSPIRATION FOR THIS STORY ILL CONTINUE IT, BUT NOT RIGHT NOW!
1. A Really Bad Day

D-raz: Alright!!!! I'm finally gonna be starting my first story now!!! Hurray for me! Now this is my first time doing this kind of thing, so please bear with me on this. Hopefully I'll see the problems later in the next few chapters.

Enough of me though, **Lets get this story started! **

O and apparently I need to do this so: I do not own Naruto Boo-Hoo for me

"Hello" Human speaking

"_Hello_" Human Thinking

"**Die!" Demon Speaking**

"**_Die!" _Demon Thinking**

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**Chapter 1: A REALLY Bad Day:**

In the peaceful city of Konohagakure, everyone is spending another peaceful day in the city of powerful shinobi. The sun is beginning to set, and we see the calm villagers relaxing at the end of a relatively splendid day. However, one person walking around the street with his head hanging lower than his friends usually see is garnering hateful glares of the nearby people. This does not seem to be very new for the tall, black and orange-clad shinobi (**AN: Forgot to mention this is post time skip, sorry!)**.

"_Why does it seem that no matter what I do, I never seem to be liked or respected around here"_ Naruto thought to himself. _"I always just seem to screw up, but this time so much more. Damn these stupid glares, I need to go someplace I can be alone_"

With that thought, Naruto began running to his usual spot **(Not Ichiraku) **before the villagers began their usual taunting or tossing of random items. He decided getting some exercise in, so thought of climbing up the mountain with his chakra. As he reached the top, he took his usual seat on top of the Yondaime's head sculpture.

"_We might look alike, but he was a hero and everyone liked him, plus he was _Hokage. _Why did I have to get this stupid fox, even with him being nicer he's still such a pain in the ass!"_

"**I heard that baka"**

"_Shut it teme, I'm thinking here!" _Naruto shouted to his inner tenant. With Naruto starting to garner some control over the Kyuubi's chakra, the Kyuubi has actually calmed down a bit, and he and Naruto have agreed to a somewhat peaceful coexistence. Not without the usual insults and jokes thrown at each other of course.

"**So what did you do this time kit. Another of your stupid, childish pranks getting you in trouble with your precious **_**Sakura-chan **_**again" taunted the Kyuubi.**

"_No something much worse Baka! Much, much worse" _Naruto was muttering towards the end,

"_**Great, he's not usually like this unless he **_**really**_** screwed up, either it was something that pervert sensei had him do and get caught or a mission" Kyuubi thought. **_**"Well since I can't see what you do through your eyes anymore" **_**"stupid seal" he added to himself,**_** "you're gonna tell me, **_**unless **_**you want me to go searching through your memories **_**again **_**hehehe"**

"_No way!! That hurts like a mother f-" _**"Tell me then" Kyuubi interrupted. **_"I would if you'd shut it baka-fox!" _Naruto shouted. _"Fine, it started when that damn sound nation decided to attack again…" _

_**YAY My first flashback! (My whole flashback is in italics so you're not confused):**_

_Naruto was sitting up on the Hokage Mountain, much like he is at the current moment. He was contemplating once again about his pretty kunoichi teammate, Sakura, but also a bit more. "No matter how many times I ask her, Sakura-chan always refuses. I can't believe she still likes that damn Sasuke-teme. No matter what happens to him, the precious Last Uchiha always seems to get what he wants. The villagers are still praying their Sasuke will come back and be some sort of hero. Seeing as how he joined up with that Fanny Bandit __**(AN: saw that used for Orochimaru one time and thought it was just so true, and funny, I had to use it.) **__they will probably be very disappointed" Naruto thought. "Even with how much I help these people, they still treat me like some demon that's ready to kill them at any moment. Maybe if it was me who had left…" _

_**BOOM**_

_Before finishing his thoughts, Naruto spotted a huge explosion at the North Gate, with a whole bunch of ninja coming out of the forest. "What the hell!" Naruto thought as he was running to the gate at top speed. While he was passing by the Hokage Tower, he was ambushed by three oto-nins who landed in front of him. "Damn that Fanny Bandit" were his thoughts. Naruto ran fast, appearing as just a blur to the inexperienced nin. Naruto landed a hard punch into the gut of the one on the left, followed by a knee to the face as the man was holding his abdomen, sending him back a few feet. As Naruto was doing this, the oto-nin next to him tried to stab his side with a kunai, but when he made contact a poof of smoke appeared that had a log with the man's kunai lodged inside. Before he can react, Naruto appears behind him and gives the nin a powerful kick into the back, sending him flying into a nearby building and crashing unconscious. Naruto, before turning around heard "Sound Style: Sound Wave". Using chakra, he was able to stay in place but suffered a few cuts. Naruto then counters with a classic shadow clone justu, surrounding the man with about 5 of himself. The next thing the oto-nin knew, he felt a bunch of kicks sending him into the air, but not enough to make him unconscious. He was left unable to defend himself from the next onslaught of attacks. One clone jumps up kicking him in the gut "U" sending him higher, then another Naruto punches him in the chest "ZU", a punch and kick even higher into the air "MA" "KI", then finally the original appears above him, kicking him in the back and the oto-nin face vaulting into the ground painfully "Naruto Rendan!" With those three out of the way, Naruto was about to find his friends somewhere in the city, when an all too familiar voice pierced his ears from behind_

"_Finally found you, dobe." _

"_So you finally show yourself huh Sasuke-teme" Naruto said coolly turning around to face his ex-friend, teammate, and, in his opinion, brother. Seeing him on the rooftop in front of him, Naruto had one opinion: "Looks like the years have not been kind to you Uchiha." Sasuke's hair had grown a little, about down to his shoulders. His skin has paled a bit from their last encounter, no doubt from lack of sun with his training from Orochimaru. One of his most notable features, however, is his eyes. They betray no emotion, and seem to constantly be in a state of glaring intimidation, strangely similar to Itachi. His face seemed to always look tired, though never seemed to show any more emotion than his eyes. He was wearing a grey robe, exposing some of his chest, along with some blue shinobi pants with a purple obi sash around his waist, holding a sword on his back. _

"_You still look like the same dobe from before, only difference is your is that shrimp doesn't suit you anymore" Sasuke said adding a bit more killing intent to his glare. _

"_I'll show you who the dobe is, Sasuke-teme, when I beat you and keep you here in Konoha!" Naruto shouted to his ex- best friend._

"_Like you could, dobe. I have and will always be the stronger than you. Nothing you could do can change that"_

"_Just watch me then, Shadow Clone Justu!!" Naruto yelled as he made about 20 clones. They all charged the Uchiha, who began to pull out his sword. As the first ten got close, all Sasuke did was slash his sword before those ten all poofed away. However, the others used this cover to get close to him. They each began a string of punches of kicks, a couple of them getting some hits in. It didn't take long for Sasuke to finish them off without even breaking a sweat Cleaving through the last clone in half horizontal, he then returned to staring at Naruto.. _

"_Is that all you got dobe" Sasuke questioned him._

"_Far from it, just watch teme" Naruto spat out as he bit his thumb and began the set of seals. As they finished, he placed his hand on the ground, yelling out "Summoning Justu!" and from the smoke appeared a medium sized toad, a bit taller than Naruto, wielding a sword. "Attack now Gamatastu!" Naruto yelled. "Yes sir!!" the toad, eagerly waiting for a battle, agreed jumping up towards Sasuke. "Does this baka really think such a weak thing could be me" Sasuke thought as he bit his own thumb, getting ready for a summoning justu. After the summoning, a medium sized snake appeared and spat some venom at the toad. The toad dodged, and tried to reach Sasuke to attack, except the snake smacked him away and began slithering towards him. As the frog and snake began to battle, Sasuke realized that the dobe was nowhere to be seen. Jumping down from the roof, he activated his Sharingan trying to find the blonde-haired shinobi. However, he soon heard a sound underneath him, but before he could react a fist popped up, sending the Uchiha into the air. He could hear a "U" before being kicked up again "ZU", then felt another punch and kick "MA" "KI", but before the final Naruto could finish, Sasuke countered with an air spin and cut the clone with his sword. Landing on his feet, Sasuke thought it was time he went on the attack. He slashed his way through the remaining clones, kicking the real Naruto in the chest sending him sliding back a few feet. Before Naruto can attack, Sasuke appears behind him, grabs his shoulder, and says "Chidori Current." A huge wave of electricity flows through the blonde shinobi, paralyzing him._

"_You don't have the power to beat me, dobe. I'll keep you alive for now, however. I want to see your face as I slaughter those people you call friends."_

"_No… no.. no" Naruto was muttering to himself, beginning to lose consciousness._

"_And after that is done, Konohagakure will burn to the ground, and Orochimaru will be able to grant me even more power" Sasuke said in his same monotone of a voice._

"_I won't let you teme, even if I have to kill you" Naruto said with a soft yet firm finality in his voice._

"_How can you stop me, dobe, you will always be a loser, dead-last, weakling. You say you can protect all these people, when you can't even protect yourself. Hmmm, maybe after I kill Itachi and Orochimaru rebuilds this place, I might just decide to become the Kage" Sasuke said with a hint of mockery towards Naruto._

_At that, however, something snapped in the barely conscious Naruto. He could feel a fresh wave of incredible chakra, along with a deep sense of hate and rage. Naruto, for once, actually thanked Kyuubi, if just a little bit, for the boost. Before Sasuke could leave, he heard a deep growl resonating with rage and killing intent._

"_**The day you become Hokage is the day I die, Sasuke-teme!!!!" **_

_Turning back to his downed opponent, Sasuke actually showed a small bit of shock seeing the dobe covered in a shell of red chakra, looking sort of like a fox with a few tails waving madly behind him. Getting over the shock of him standing with so much power, he smirked, starting the activation of his level two Cursed Seal._

"_Time for round two then, dobe."_

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De-Raz: Alright my first chapter done!!!! Time for a Party! 

Naruto: Not yet, I didn't get to kick Sasuke's ass yet!

Sasuke: Like you could dobe (glares evilly)

Naruto: Wat!!!! (glares angrily)

De-Raz: **You guys cool it or you both get your ass kicked**! (grows 100x their sizes)

Naruto & Sasuke: (chibify) s-s-s-sorry

De-Raz: Good, so next chapter has the end of the attack, hopefully flashback, I can see why some authors hate doing them.

Plz R&R: its great motivation to continue writing and write faster.


	2. Who is She?

Just doing the regular disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, if I did I would be a very rich man

Also, I forgot to mention that none of the Konoha 12 knows Naruto is a demon container yet, just a bit of foreshadowing if u read this.

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**Chapter 2: Who is she?**

(AN: Still in flashback, so everything still in italics)

**At The North Gate**

_While Naruto was having the fight of his life at the Hokage Tower, the rest of the Konoha 12 and the other leaf nin were holding back the oto-nin forces from breaching too far into Konoha. Sakura, being a med-nin, was staying near the rear healing several injured comrades._

"_Damn, we truthfully need a lot of more field medics, I'm not sure how much more chakra I can use to hold out."_

"_Another wave is approaching!" shouted one of the chunnin near the front._

"_Crud, I don't have the stamina to heal that many more if they get injured" Sakura thought._

_As she was taking a short rest, she began watching her friends who were easily defeating these weaker sound nin._

_On top of the wall on the left side, she could see a young kunoichi with some Chinese-style clothing tossing weapons of all kinds into the crowds of invading ninjas. Noticing her use of sharp projectiles and two brown buns of hair on her head, she could easily make that out to be Tenten. Not too far beside her, Sakura could see Shino in his usual stoic stance with bugs being released from several points on his body. Though she thought all the bugs were gross, she had to admit that they were useful in keeping large groups of people under control, exactly what they needed here. Them and a group of chunnin and jounin ninja could be seen trying to keep as many ninja from getting over the wall as they could. _

_Looking towards the courtyard like opening leading to the North Gate, or more rather where it used to be, she could see all the actual fighting. The first person she was able to notice from the crowd didn't exactly keep his presence a secret. After all, riding on a giant dog into a battle can make you stand out a bit, especially being as loud as Kiba. Sakura saw as Kiba gave Akamaru a food pill, but what she saw next gave her a surprise. When she was expecting two more animalistic copies of Kiba, Sakura instead saw a giant, white, two headed dog maybe twelve to fifteen feet high. _

"_It looks like Kiba has been improving a lot, even after that loss to Naruto after he challenged him shortly after he came back."_

_Another figure she saw quickly was pretty hard to see completely, but a giant green blur could be seen by those who knew him well or just had good eyes. The Gai clone Rock Lee could be seen punching several oto-nins, probably breaking their bones. Sakura was just glad that he was on their side._

"_If they had a guy who fought like Lee, I would probably be knocked out cold from chakra exhaustion trying to heal all of us."_

"_MY SPIRIT OF YOUTH WILL CONTINUE TO FLOW FROM THE HEAT OF BATTLE" __(AN: If your too retarded or tired to guess right now, that was Lee)_

"_Then again, any guy who was like Lee would be dead just by being too damn annoying" Sakura thought as a giant sweat drop could be seen on basically everyone._

_One other person was able to catch Sakura's attention fast was right now a giant ball rolling down towards another group of fighting sound nin. Chouji's clan, while being seen as a bunch of fatsos by most, were quite useful with their family Justus that used their own big size as a weapon. By Chouji Sakura could see his best friend, Shikamaru, no doubt holding them in place so the giant ball would hit. True, Shikamaru probably had to be one of the laziest ninja she had ever seen, but when it came time to be serious it was a bit scary how serious he could be. Add that to being one of the most brilliant tacticians Konoha had probably seen, and he was deadly once he got into a fight._

_Although she could not find her long time rival, Ino, she was probably aiding in the evacuation. After all, besides just working in her family's flower shop, she also taught part time at the academy. Hearing a person that could use mind Justus on people, practically every teacher wanted her to be their aide. After all, being able to use a mind justu on an excessively rowdy bunch kids to calm them down was something teachers would die for. _

_By the opposite wall on the right side of the gate, Sakura saw most of the Hyuuga Clan keeping up the defenses over there. She could also see two people that were not friends per say, more like acquaintances. One of them, a compact girl with long, dark violet hair, could be seen using their family's style Jyuuken in a slightly different way than the other members, based on her natural flexibility. The girl Hinata was strong in her own sense of determination, but was unusually shy around basically everybody. The other Hyuuga Sakura recognized was not using his Jyuuken differently, mainly just better than the others. It was no wonder he was called the Hyuuga Genius seeing him in comparison to the others._

_Seeing the next wave of oto-nin coming up to the gates, Sakura was wondering how they lasted in this battle so well._

"_Look at us, an extra young bunch of chunnin, a couple of us jounin, able to fight out a battle that would seem only experienced jounin could handle. Wait a second, I'm sure someone we know is missing. Let's see… we got Tenten, Shino, Kiba, Lee, Chouji, Shikamaru, Hinata, Neji, me, and I'm sure Ino's at the Hokage Monument by now. That's it! Naruto isn't here, o that baka, what could he be doing now more important than this! When I get my hands on him I'll…." Sakura was thinking angrily as she decided to get her friends to help her find him._

"_Hey you guys! Where is Naruto!?" Was all she needed to say to garner their attention and look towards her in a questioning look. _

"_That baka probably just got lost on his way to the battle" Kiba said in a mockingly way._

"_Or maybe he might be in an ambush Kiba" Shikamaru said in his patented lazy way as he came over to the now gathering group._

"_Do you really think that would happen, it is just Naruto, its not like he's that smart, powerful, or good?" Sakura asked._

"_I don't think it would really matter, a dead shinobi is less of a threat than a stupid one" Shikamaru replied._

"_Anou, m-maybe we s-s-should go looking for h-him?" Hinata asked softly in her regular shy way. _

"_Maybe, I mean it looks like everyone else had this place handled" Tenten said._

"_He is still just a dumb blonde baka, why all go look for him?" Sakura said with a slight hint of anger. She still had not gotten over the fact Naruto had failed to return Sasuke despite the fact that he promised._

"_BECAUSE HE IS A FELLOW LEAF WITH A FLAME OF YOUTH TO MATCH MINE AND GAI-SENSEI AND-"_

"_Shut up Lee!!!!" Tenten yelled, Neji just settled for a slap on his forehead._

"_Anyway I think its decided, we are all going to find the Naruto" Shikamaru said._

"_Yea okay" most of them said, Chouji was just eating his chips the whole time._

_Right as they were about to start a search, the whole village feels such a huge chakra source, filled with such a potent force of rage and killing intent, the older shinobi think that the Kyuubi finally returned. The Konoha 12 were just frozen in fear, but after a short bit got over their shock, and nonverbally agreed to find the source of such a power. As they reach where the source probably is, they hide in the area of the Hokage Tower to witness something unbelievable._

_**With Naruto and Sasuke:**_

"_**I'm gonna tear you limb from limb, Sauske-teme!" Naruto growled out in his deeper, gravelly voice. "I will not let hurt anybody from this village, even if I have to kill you!" he shouted as the chakra continued to surround his body, giving him the appearance of a fox. Out of the back, two things that could be considered tails sway behind him. The strangest part about his change is his face. His canines have grown, his whisker marks are darker and broader, and his once deep azure eyes are now red with slitted pupils.**_

"_Even with that strange chakra, your still no match against me dobe, especially with my curse seal level two" Sasuke mocked with an air of arrogance around him. Sasuke's hair had grown longer and more spread out, his skin has turned a dark brownish color, a cross shaped scar can be seen above the bridge of his nose, and his eyes have turned a yellow and black. The most notable change is that two appendages appear from his back and take on a wing form. The hiding witnesses (Konoha 12) to this battle are both amazed and afraid of the power these two are displaying, it seems almost inhuman._

_Naruto took the first strike, charging towards Sasuke on all fours. As he got closer, he gave a right hook aimed towards his head, with a chakra claw extending the range. Sasuke could barely dodge that even with his Sharingan, nearly getting burned by that chakra claw. Sasuke grabs the attacker's arm, and pulls Naruto a bit closer to give him a knee in the gut, but Naruto uses his other arm to block, then kicks Sasuke in the side sending him into a building so fast it is hardly traced by his comrades watching this._

"_When did Naruto get so fast, and what is that strange power?" was on the minds of all the spectators. Sakura as an added thought, was overjoyed seeing Sasuke again, but thought "What is Naruto doing?! Is he trying to kill Sasuke, he said he would bring him back!?" _

_Sasuke got up quickly, keeping a close eye on Naruto's movements with the Sharingan. _

"_Hmmm, it appears the dobe has some other power that seems to be on par with the curse seal. I have to make sure this ends quickly" and on that note, begins his charge._

_On his way towards Naruto, Sasuke performs the seals for his favorite jutsu, Great Fireball Justu, and launches it towards him. Naruto easily blocks it with his chakra powered arm, but Sasuke appears behind him and delivers a knee into his back, sending him a few feet forward. Turning around, Naruto launches one of his claws into Sasuke's gut but is blocked by his wings. Charging forward, Naruto creates four shadow clones, and trades hits and blocks with Sasuke, both seemingly matched. After the clones disappear, Naruto jumps back, and begins to create a sphere of red chakra in his hand._

_**Naruto calls out to Sasuke, saying "Let's finish this now, Sasuke-teme!! It's time to die!"**_

_Unfazed by his attack, Sasuke lowers his arm and prepares his own attack, chidori. Instead of a blue color and the sound of chirping birds, however, Sasuke's chidori is a black color accompanied by the sound of birds flapping their wings._

"_This face off remind you of anything, dobe?" Sasuke said while building up his attack._

_For a couple of seconds, everything around the two demonic fighters is still, the two fighters just staring at each other. Then, as if on a signal, both start charging at each other in speeds the Konoha 12 can barely follow, then both attacks collide, one trying to gain dominance over the other. Pretty soon, there is a huge explosion that damages all of the buildings around them and nearly knocking the spectators away. As the smoke clears, the Konoha 12 can see the silhouette of one of them standing over the other. Soon, it appears to them that Naruto, with the chakra still swirling around him, is covered in wounds probably from the explosion and an injury on his left shoulder. Sasuke, however, is knocked out and they can see the curse seal beginning to dissipate. __He appears to have a much deeper wound around the sternum. _

"_**For all the people you hurt for your search for power, for all the people you killed, its time to die Sasuke-teme" Naruto says in a low growl as he pulls back his fist, set to kill.**_

_Sakura, however, tries to stop Naruto, saying "You can't Naruto, you said you would bring him back, you promised you damn liar!"_

_Hearing hear voice, Naruto's red chakra also begins to dissipate, and soon falls over unconscious from exhaustion. Before the Konoha 12 can investigate the battlefield, the Fanny Bandit (Orochimaru, incase you forgot) arrives onto the scene with his aide Kabuto and inspects Sasuke's body. As Naruto struggles and loses the battle to keep conscious, Orochimaru takes Sasuke and sinks back into the ground, no doubt to go back to Oto to be healed. The last thing Naruto sees before everything goes black is his friends coming around towards him, but with a small hint of fear shown in their eyes._

"_Oh shit…" is the last thing Naruto can think of before giving into the darkness._

_**Hospital**_

_The first thing that Naruto notices when waking up is a bright light and white ceiling._

"_Great another trip to the hospital for me" Naruto thinks wearily._

_After a couple of minutes, he sees the door open and Tsunade walking into the room._

"_Hey Granny Tsunade how're-" is all he can say before getting hit on the head again._

"_Quiet brat, this is a hospital, and quit calling me Granny!" Tsunade yells out to him._

"_So how long have I been stuck here this time" Naruto asks._

"_It's been three days since your fight against Sasuke Naruto" Tsunade replies._

"_How did you know about that, nobody was there to see the battle, right?"_

"_Well Naruto, we have some bad news so don't interrupt. Unfortunately, all of your friends were out looking for you when they found you fighting Sasuke. They also spotted you using the Kyuubi's chakra. They also saw Sasuke transform, but that was explainable due to the Curse Seal. When it came to what happened to you, we had to…"_

"_You didn't tell them did you Granny Tsunade?" Naruto asks with a mix of fear and shock._

_Ignoring the Granny part, Tsunade replied "Unfortunately we did have to or they would go asking around, then people would just panic that you used the Kyuubi's power."_

_Already having a bad feeling of this, he asks "What was there reaction?"_

"_Well, a couple of them were surprised but not afraid of you, others just kind of felt confused, but…"_

"_But what?" he asked nervously._

"_Neji made sure to keep Hinata and himself away, and Sakura is blaming you for Sasuke running away, making him jealous with this power and feel he needed more. Plus with all her parents' upbringing of hating you, she is starting to feel the same now that she knows."_

_At the news of his crush saying that, he felt a great deal of sadness. "She really thinks it's my fault Sasuke left, why does she even care, he's a traitor. The only reason he isn't in the Bingo Book is cause the dumbass Council still think their precious Uchiha will come back. Why him…?"_

"_Naruto, are you feeling okay?"_

"_Huh, oh, yea, I just need to go and think."_

"_Well you're totally fine now, just get dressed and you can leave."_

"_Thanks Granny Tsunade."_

_**POW**_

"_Ouch, that hurts!"_

_**End Flashback (Man that was a long one):**_

"**So you lost a few friends, who cares?" Kyuubi asked.**

"I do you baka-fox! I even lost my love Sakura" Naruto said sadly.

"**Kit, quit fooling yourself, it might have been a crush but was definitely not love."**

"Well what do you know about love?"

"_**This guy can be such a pain**_**" Kyuubi thought. "Okay, what do you like about Sakura?"**

"Well, um, she's pretty and smart and ummm…"

"**Anything else?" Kyuubi asked smugly.**

"Hold on I'm thinking"

"**Face it kit, she was pretty and that was basically it. I mean, when did she ever show you any kindness and compassion?"**

Thinking back, Naruto remembers all the memories of Team 7 and the academy. He remembers all the harsh words she would say to get him to leave, how she'd swoon over Sasuke all the time, and especially all the punches he would get for the dumbest of things.

"_She never did like me at all, she barely tolerated having me around…" _

"I guess you're right Kyuubi."

"**Am I ever not right Kit?" Kyuubi said rubbing it in. "O, and by the way you have been talking out loud to yourself the whole time" Kyuubi said snickering.**

"_Damn it Kyuubi why didn't you tell me? What if somebody was listening?"_

"_**This should be fun" **_**"Mainly because it made you look like an idiot" he replied with another snicker.**

"Damn fox."

As Naruto was finishing this conversation, his sharpened sense of hearing detected a person coming up to him from the woods behind. Turning around quickly, he took out a kunai getting ready for a battle. What he didn't expect to see was a girl around his age appearing from the forest. She had long, wavy red hair that blended into an orange and yellow color near the end towards her lower back. She had a toned and lean body suggests she has at least acquired some ninja training. Some of her hair was covering her eyes, though it seemed they were hardly opened anyway. Her clothes were a bit torn and it appeared that she was traveling in that way for at least a few days. She was bleeding from several wounds all around her body, and she seemed completely exhausted.

She took one look towards Naruto, and was able to call out with a weak but soothing voice, "help me" before falling prey to her exhaustion and passing out.

Before she hit the ground though, Naruto was already there and was able to catch her. It didn't take an expert to see she needed to get to the hospital.

Carrying her bridal-style to the hospital, one thought crossed his mind.

"_Who is she?_"

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Please Read and Review 


	3. A New Friend

Narrator: Alright, just want to say thanks to my first reviewers.

**DragonTamerx**

**The True Uzumaki**

**Crusnik**

**Thanks for the support, its great to know my writing is actually good.**

**Thanks for all the hits from u other guys too, ur awesome!**

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, those Japanese guys do

* * *

**Chapter 3: A New Friend**

As her eyes opened up painfully slow, the first thing she noticed was a bright light hitting down onto her face, shutting her eyes to the blinding light again. After a few minutes of adjustment, she could open her eyes to see a white ceiling above her. She tried to get up, but found her body too exhausted to move much without much stress. Lying back down, she could see to her right a large window that gave her a view of a town, more like a big city actually. Even from her view of the area, she was sure that there was still more of the city to see. She could also see the sun beginning to rise up to greet the people once with its light with only a few clouds in the sky to get in its way.

"_Where am I, last thing I can remember is getting to the edge of a forest, then I saw a person, who was that?"_

Deciding she had enough of the view outside, she turned her direction to the rest of room she was in.

And that is when she spotted him.

The boy seemed to be about her age, even though he was a whole head taller than her sitting in a chair by her bed apparently sleeping still. He was dressed in a black shirt which had an orange spiral on his left sleeve and a dark orange stripe on each side under his arms. It was able to show off that although not ripped, he definitely had some well toned muscles. She saw he was also wearing regular black cargo pants that had another orange stripe down each pant leg and wearing black shinobi sandals. Looking up towards his head, she could see a lean face with what appeared to be whisker marks, but they seemed to look good on him. She could also spot a large mop of blonde, spiked-up hair held up by a headband with a leaf carved on it.

"_Who is this guy? Is he the one who brought me here? Maybe somebody can help me here" _she thought to herself.

What she didn't notice was that she was still staring at him as the sun finally decided to wake up the blonde-haired shinobi.

"_Hmmmmmm, morning already, well I guess I can see if this girl is awake yet."_

As Naruto looked down, he could see the girl already awake, staring at him with two orange-colored eyes with a small hint of red in it, yet still comforting and full of life like a warm fire at the dead of night.

What the girl saw as he was waking up were two deep blue eyes that looked like they were from the ocean, and seemed to be able to penetrate into her very mind and soul. The gaze itself didn't seem intimidating; instead it looked full of kindness and comfort, and she seemed to be lost in them.

The comfortable silence of their staring, however, was soon broken by a knock at the door, followed by a blonde haired woman only slightly taller than the boy in front of her.The woman seemed to be probably in her late twenties or thirties. The two teens quickly looked away blushing when the woman entered, the fire-red haired girl a bit more heavily.

"_Was I really just checking that boy out? He is pretty handsome…"_

"_She must think I'm some kind of pervert staring at her like that. Damn Ero-sennin!"_

"_What happened to these two, oh well I'm too old to be dealing with this."_

Walking next to the blonde haired shinobi, the woman asked "I see you are doing much better, especially after just one day of rest, what is your name?"

"My name is Shina" she replied in a voice unlike most kunoichi here, mainly because it wasn't loud (cough…Ino…cough) but just a tad softer, and comforting as well.

"Welcome to Konoha Shina, my name is Tsunade" the older woman replied.

"Wait you're really Tsunade, one of the Sennin?" Shina asked.

"Yes that's right, and the boy next to me is…"

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, the next Hokage!" the blonde haired boy shouted.

"Quiet Naruto! How many times must I tell you not to yell in here?!" Tsunade yelled while punching him in the head a bit forcefully.

"Ouch! Granny Tsunade why do you always have to hit me?!" Naruto questioned.

"And stop calling me Granny!" she yelled angrily with a vein popping out of her head and a fist shaking in front of her.

Seeing all of this the red-headed girl tried hard not to laugh back, but was unable to stifle a small giggle at the two people's conversation.

Turning their attention back to the teen girl on the bed, Tsunade took a look over her. With her examination, her hands began to glow green as she placed her healing chakra over the girl's body. After a few minutes, Tsunade was finished, saying "Well she didn't seem too badly hurt, I was able to heal all her injuries but she will feel a little tired for the day. Naruto, could you please step outside for a minute so I can have a talk with her."

"_O no, she's gonna try to send me back, but I can't go back!"_

"Okay then Granny Tsunade" Naruto replied happily, running out and closing the door before Tsunade could hit him with the clipboard she tossed.

"Now that he is not around here, could you tell me why you were running through the forest?"

"Well…" Shina began nervously, "I was running away from my home village" she finished hanging her head down.

"Well why did you do that?" Tsunade asked putting a reassuring arm around the girl's shoulders.

"_I can't tell her that, she'll just reject me like everyone at my village did" _she thought sadly.

"I really can't tell you that, you would hate me," she said muttering the last part sadly.

"I can promise you that I won't, but if you don't tell me I'd have no choice but to consider you a missing-nin."

"_Well, better to take my chances here other than at my village." She thought._

"I'm, I'm…umm" she said trying to find the right words. "I carry the Six-Tailed Phoenix Rokudou no Houyoku, I'm just a demon. At my village, I was hated. The other people would glare at me, insult me, and try to beat and glare at me. Even the kids my age knew, and although they weren't as harsh, none of them wanted to be my friend. Finally I just decided to run around a week ago, but then they sent nin to try and kill me. That is when somebody found me leaving a forest, and I guess bringing me here. I'm guessing it was that boy, Naruto, who brought me here huh?" Shina said ready to shed some tears.

Tsunade could only nod her head trying to take in all this information. _"Her life was just like Naruto's from what I learned about it." _"He came in here making a loud ruckus, trying to get you some medical attention; luckily he got you here before your injuries became too serious from blood loss. Even when I said you would be okay, he spent all day and night here waiting to make sure you recovered."

With that, Shina picked her head up quickly looking at the woman with a hint of disbelief. _"That boy did that for me? Why? I'll have to thank him later for that" _she thought with a small, near unnoticeable blush on her cheeks.

"That's Naruto for yea" Tsunade said almost like she knew her thoughts. "Even for strangers, he has quite the caring heart, even though he's a bit of a loud mouth."

Looking back at Shina, Tsunade replied "I really don't mind that you're a jinchuuriki. In fact, we have one in our village too, so I know how to deal with them."

Shina stared at Tsunade with an even larger look of disbelief. "Really? Who is the person? Can I meet him or her?"

Tsunade shook her head. "I'm sorry, but that's an S-Class secret. Only the person themselves are allowed to tell other people."

Shina brought her head down again. _"Looks like I'm still gonna be alone keeping this secret."_

"Enough of that though, what would you like to do? I'm sure you don't want to go back there huh?"

To that, Shina quickly shook her head fiercely. "If it was at all possible, do you think I could be allowed to stay here and be a kunoichi?" she asked hopefully.

"I don't see a problem with that, but you will start out as a genin for our current Team 7, they are missing a member, okay?"

Shina nodded her head happily. "Why are they missing a member though? Is he sick?"

Tsunade, shaking her head, said "I think that is a matter you best take up with one of them; it is a bit of a touchy subject. In fact, let me call a member in here to escort you around, I'm sure you'd want to get used to our new home."

"That reminds me Tsunade-sama, where will I go for my new home?"

"Let me take care of those details. While you're being escorted around town, I'll get all the papers of your shinobi placement ready. Hey Naruto, get back in here!"

Shina had a look of surprise on her face. _"Naruto is one of my teammates, maybe that won't be so bad, at least I'll know one of them already."_

Shina could here from the doorway "What did you need Granny Tsunade?!"

After the regular punch to the head, Tsunade replied "Naruto, I want to take your newest teammate Shina to a tour of Konoha while I prepare her records and living arrangements."

"_New teammate? Cool, a new friend, I sure could use some of those" _Naruto thought with a look of surprise.

"Get going you two, I need to hurry up if I want to finish by today" Tsunade said.

"Sure thing, come on Shina-chan lets get going, I got a lot to show ya!" Naruto shouted happily as Shina began to walk with him out the door. As they were walking down the hallway, Shina had a thought cross her mind.

"_Shina-_chan_? Nobody since my family ever cared that much about me, and I just met him."_

Putting that thought aside for later, Shina instead asked "Hey Naruto-kun, why do you call Tsunade-sama Granny?"

"_Naruto-_kun_? She's probably just being polite; nobody's ever been so friendly that fast."_

"What do you mean, Shina-chan?"

"Well, she only looks like she's in her twenties; she would look more like a mom than Granny."

"O yea, that's because it's some strange genjutsu thingy she uses, it helps her look younger, cause without it, well, let's say the years have not been kind to her."

Unknown to them both, Tsunade was still within earshot when she heard what Naruto said about her.

The entire city of Konoha could hear a cry of "**NA-RU-TO!!!!!**"

**Ichiraku Ramen (like their first stop would be anywhere else):**

After desperately attempting to get away from the hurricane of rage called Tsunade, Naruto decided to take Shina to his favorite place to eat for lunch.

While walking into the shop, he was greeted by the owner Teuchi and Ayume.

"Hello, if it isn't my best customer, how are you doing?"

"Hey there old man, just stopping by for lunch."

"Hey Naruto-kun, whose your friend there?" Ayame asked.

"O right, manners. This is my newest friend Shina-chan. I suppose you could say we met yesterday, and is my newest teammate" Naruto replied happily.

"Hello there, it's nice to meet you both" Shina replied.

"Well, any friend of Naruto is a friend of mine. So what would you guys like?" said the shopkeeper's daughter.

"I'll have the usual Ayume-chan" The blonde haired boy said joyously.

"I think I will have some pork ramen please" Shina said.

As they were both eating, by the time Shina finished her first bowl, Naruto had finished five.

With a shocked face, Shina asked Ayame "Does he always eat that much?"

"He's not even close yet, his usual is normally around ten bowls."

"Wow, why does he eat so much?"

"I've tried to figure that out for years, but it's still a mystery."

As the girls were sharing a couple of giggles, Naruto was thinking of what to do next.

"Hey Shina-chan?"

"Yea Naruto-kun?"

"What would you like to do next, I mean we can go to the training grounds, or go through the nearby forests, or maybe we can go looking for some of my friends to introduce you."

"I think I would like to go meet your friends, if you don't mind."

"Sure no problem" Naruto replied as he grabbed Shina's hand unintentionally and began walking off.

"Have fun with your _girlfriend_ Naruto" Ayame called out in a sly tone.

Seeing what he was doing, he quickly let go of her hand and they both began to blush heavily.

"S-s-she's just an f-f-friend Ayume-chan" Naruto was able to sputter out embarrassed.

"_Sure _she is Naruto" Ayame said sarcastically. "Whatever; have fun anyway."

And with that sense of embarrassment, Naruto and Shina go on their way to find some of his friends.

* * *

Narrator: Well next chapter, I introduce Shina to the Rookie 9 

Shina: Anything else interesting happening to me?

Narrator: Maybe, you'll just have to find out next chapter.

Please Read and Review


	4. A New Place

Narrator: Alright, It's officially summertime for me now. YAHOOO!!! Time to celebrate with a new chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, too bad.

* * *

**Chapter 4: A New Place:**

As Naruto and Shina left the ramen shop, they began their way down the streets of Konoha to see who of Naruto's friends they could find. Shina couldn't help but sense the glares that the villagers shot at the pair, eerily similar to the same treatment she suffered at her old village.

"_Tsunade-sama didn't tell people, did she? No, she promised she wouldn't, but they feel so much like the ones back at home?" _

Wanting to sate her curiosity, she couldn't help but ask Naruto. "Naruto-kun?" "Yea, what is it Shina-chan?" he asked in his child like voice. "Why are the villagers glaring at me, was it something I did?" the red-headed ninja asked a bit nervously.

"_Crap, I was hoping she wouldn't notice. There's no way she'd be my friend if she knew why for real. Come on, Naruto, gotta think of a good lie, think, think."_

"Naruto-kun?" Shina asked seeing him with a far-off look on his face. Seeing how the black and orange clad shinobi didn't seem to hear her, she waved a hand in front of his face while calling his name again.

"O, sorry about that Shina-chan, well they're not really glaring at you really, they're looking at me" he said a bit dejectedly.

"_At him? Why would they do that, he seems so nice and good-natured?"_

"Why are they doing that, Naruto-kun?"

"O, it's nothing really, just something that happened in the past. I've gotten used to this by now…" Naruto said a bit sadly. Shina knew there was more about this than he was telling, but decided against pushing it further. As they continued walking around in a comfortable silence, Shina saw that they were heading outside of the actual town. In a few minutes, they ended up at an open field on the top of a hill. When they got there, she saw a guy laying down in the tree's shade staring up at the sky. Seeing the man, Naruto was quick to call out to him "Hey Shikamaru! You staring at clouds again?"

"_Aww great, every time he finds me here, it's always to do something so troublesome. He needs to learn to leave people alone" _Shikamaru thought lazily, not even bothering to acknowledge their presence in preference to continue staring up at the clouds.

"_That lazy ass, he could at least say hi or look over here"_ Naruto thought as he trudged over with Shina to where he was laying down. "Hey Shikamaru, you could at least say something!" However, as they looked down on him, they saw his eyes were closed and his breathing lightly.

"_If I just pretend to be asleep, maybe he'll leave and not be troublesome, at least this is better than having to do with whatever he wants" _he thought as he kept up this charade.

This, however, was not the case, because Naruto decided to lift him up in an attempt at waking him up. "Hey Shikamaru, get up!!! There's somebody I want you to meet."

"You're so troublesome, Naruto" the lazy genius mumbled opening his eyes. They first caught sight of the regular blonde shinobi who woke him up. After a bit of adjustment, however, he saw next to him a girl that seemed their age, an inch shorter than him with fire red hair waving down her back along with orange and red-tinted eyes. Her style of clothing was similar to Sakura's, except she was wearing cargo shorts instead of a skirt. The upper part of it was a red that was comparable to fire, and her black shorts had a pocket and shuriken holster on each thigh. The bottom were licked with a flame design that reached up midway between the bottom of her shorts and pockets.

"I'm guessing this is the person you wanted to show me, Naruto?"

"Yep, Shikamaru meet Shina-chan, she's gonna be the newest member of my team!" the blonde haired kid said in his annoyingly loud voice. As he was saying this to Shikamaru, Shina decided to have a better look at him since he was standing up now. The guy was the same age as her and Naruto, and about an inch taller than her. He was wearing some dark green clothing, with a long-sleeve shirt and a chunnin vest on him. He was wearing cargo pants in a dark green color with a shuriken and kunai holster on his right thigh. The guy was sporting a spiked hairstyle, though it seemed to resemble a pineapple.

"Shina, this is Shikamaru. He is without a doubt one of the laziest ninja ever, but is also super smart!" Naruto said interrupting her thoughts.

"Yea, thanks for that sentiment" Shikamaru said in a bored voice.

"Is he really that smart, Naruto-kun?" She asked curiously.

"Yea he just thinks everything that doesn't have to do with watching clouds is too troublesome."

"That's because everything is troublesome, Naruto, and besides-"

"SHIKAMARUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!"

His comment was interrupted by a really loud voice belonging to a girl that appeared to be getting closer.

"Shikamaru, get over here you lazy bastard!!! We're already late for training because of you!" yelled a blonde, long haired girl as she came stomping over to where Shina, Naruto, and Shikamaru were standing. Her hair covered the right side of her face and went back in a ponytail, but leaving her left showing a beautiful face with a blue eye. All of her clothing was purple, and she was wearing a small shirt without sleeves that left her stomach exposed. She was also wearing a purple skirt, and some grey elbow and knee guards. It was easy to tell she was very skinny, possibly from a diet, that or excessive training.

"God, Ino, so troublesome" the lazy genius mutters, mainly to himself.

"Hey Ino!" Naruto yells out to her as she's on her way over.

"Come on Shikamaru, if we don't get going Asuma will… hey who is this girl?" Ino asks as she calms down enough to actually notice the young woman by the two.

"Ino, this is my new friend and teammate, Shina-chan" Naruto replied.

"Oh, hello there, it's nice to meet you" the blonde haired girl said in a voice that seemed too kind to reflect her anger just a few seconds ago. "It's nice to meet you too" Shina said back in her beautifully soft voice. As they were greeting each other, another person was walking up the hill, which was eating something at the same time.

"Hey Ino, did you get Shikamaru yet? We're gonna be late" the man said. Seeing the girl next to Naruto, he couldn't help but ask who she was. After introductions between her and Chouji, team 10 decided to not hold up their training and their likely punishment from Asuma-sensei, any further. After they left, they decided to take a trip to the training grounds, where he hopes to find the rest of his friends. On the way there, they each decided to share some personal information, like Kakashi-sensei did with him on the first day.

"So, what are your likes, dislikes, and dreams Shina-chan?"

"Hmmm, well, I like training and dango, and people who help and protect others. I don't like people who are mean to others without reason, and for dreams, well, for people to like me for me?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"O, um, nothing important, really" she hastily replied. _"That was a bit too much information, if he ever found out; he'd leave just like everyone else." _Looking towards her, Naruto could see a bit of sadness on her face and asked if she was okay. Shina said she was, but Naruto decided to ask her about it later.

"Well, I guess it's my turn. Let's see, I like ramen, training, and all my precious people. I dislike people who judge others without knowing them. My dream is to become Hokage, so I can protect my precious people!" he said in his usual vigor.

"That's a nice dream, Naruto-kun; I'm sure you'll succeed."

"You really think so? Thanks, most people just berate me or say how impossible that is."

"_It's more likely than my dream, nobody who knows the real me could like me" _she thought sadly.

As their conversation ended, they ended up at a training field on the edge of a forest. As they were walking there, they could see two people sparring, one throwing a lot of weapons at the other who was running really fast. As they got closer, Shina saw that the one with the weapons was a girl and the dodger was a guy.

"Hey Fuzzy Brows, Tenten!" Naruto shouted to the pair.

"Hey Naruto!" the girl called out to him. The guy, however, was a bit more vocal…

"YOSH!! My eternal rival showers our presence with his Fountain of Youth!! And he brings a new friend, what a great example of his Flames of Passion!!" shouted the boy. As he was yelling this, Shina saw the girl hitting her head on a tree first, then hit Lee on the head, resulting in a sweatdrop for the two onlookers.

"Sorry about that, I would like to say he's not usually like that, but then I'd be lying" the girl said apologizing. Shina saw the girl was a bit taller than her, with brown hair kept up in two buns. The girl was wearing a white and red Chinese-style long sleeve shirt with red pants going down to her mid-shins. Shina also saw Tenten holding a huge scroll, which she thinks is where the weapons came from.

"Hey Tenten, meet my new teammate Shina" Naruto said introducing her to Tenten. As they were greeting each other, Lee recovered from the hit, but decided against another speech and getting hit by Tenten.

"Hello there Naruto, who is this next to you?!" Lee yelled. Shina took one look at Lee, and thought _"Freaky". _He was sporting a green, spandex suit with a chunnin vest one, and orange leg warmers on. The freakiest part, in her opinion, was his head. He had big eyes, with even bigger eyebrows over. _"No wonder Naruto-kun called him Fuzzy Brows, are they even real?" _she thought taking a look at them and his bowl-cut hair.

"I know what you're thinking, and yep they are real, unfortunately" Naruto whispered into Shina's ear.

Turning back to Tenten and Lee, Naruto asked them what they were doing out here today. They said how Neji was training with his uncle today, so they decided to spar again. Naruto told them that he and Shina should leave so they could find his other friends. After saying their goodbyes, Naruto and Shina continued down some other training grounds in hopes of finding Team 8. As they were walking along, they continued their conversation.

"Hey Shina-chan I was wondering something?"

"What of Naruto-kun?"

"Well, you said you were gonna stay here to be a leaf shinobi, but what about your family?" he asked turning to see her face. He saw her vibrant smile fade into a frown. "I don't have anybody at my old village; I was an orphan from birth. As a young kid I still had a brother, but he died a few years ago." Seeing her frown, Naruto tried to apologize to keep her from being mad at him.

"I'm sorry; I guess I shouldn't have asked huh?" the blonde haired kid asked sadly.

"O no, it's okay really" she said trying to lighten the mood. "What about your family?"

"Well, I'm an orphan too. I never had anybody to call a family before" he said also beginning to frown.

"_Wow, so much like me. Frowning really doesn't suit him well. Maybe I should try to comfort him somehow."_

Before she could do anything, however, Naruto called out "Hey Kiba, Hinata, Shino!"

Shina turned toward the clearing to see three people out there training, two boys and a girl more specifically. Another strange sight she saw was that one of the boys seemed to be riding a huge dog. The boy on the dog shouted with an equally loud voice "Hey Naruto!" The three people came walking, or in one case riding, towards the pair. As they came up, Kiba "Hey, Naruto, who is this next to you?" Introducing her once again, Naruto turned towards Shina and said, "Shina, the one on the dog with the dog breath (I heard that!) is Kiba, the silent guy in the trench coat is Shino (…), and the shy girl in between is Hinata (hello.)"

"Hey Shina-chan, would you mind talking to Hinata alone for a sec, I need to ask the guys something?" Naruto asked.

"Sure no problem, Naruto-kun" Shina said as she and Hinata walked away from the boys.

"_Shina-_chan?! _Can't pass up on this chance of embarrassment" _Kiba thought mischievously.

"So, what did you need to ask us?" Shino said in his regular monotone.

"Well, all you guys know about the fox so-"

"Save it, Naruto; we know what you're going to ask. It doesn't matter to us, we fought and saved your ass hundreds of times. I think that if you were a demon, we wouldn't be alive right now, you're still Naruto to us" Kiba said in a surprisingly mature way. Shino just nodded a bit in agreement.

"What about Hinata, Neji and Sakura?" Naruto asked a bit sadly.

"Hinata still wants to be your friend Naruto, for reasons beyond rational thought. Neji just wants to keep her away from you, like that would work, and he's just got a huge stick up his ass. Sakura is just a big Sasuke fanatic like most villagers here" Kiba replied once again. Shino, once again, stuck with nodding his head in agreement (AN: talks even less than Sasuke, huh?).

"Thanks guys" Naruto said a bit emotional. Thinking now as a good time to get him riled up, Kiba decided to put his plan into action.

"So, where'd _you _get such a hot girlfriend, Naruto?"

**Other side of Field, same time as boys' conversation:**

"So, Shina, what do you think of the village so far?" Hinata asked the red-head (AN: I don't want to bother writing Hinata's stutters in, so just imagine them, it's good for your brain.)

"It is very beautiful, and much bigger than my old village. The villagers, however, seem a bit hostile whenever me and Naruto went by, why is that?"

"O, well, um, the villagers sort of have an unfounded reason to hate Naruto."

"Why, what did he do?" Shina asked curiously.

"It was nothing he did, just something about him; it's really his place to tell you, not me."

"Okay, sure" she told Hinata a bit dejectedly. _"He doesn't even know what's inside me, and he still doesn't see me as a friend enough yet."_

"What do you think of Naruto, Shina?"

"Well, he seems very kind and caring, a bit loud, but very good-natured" _"And handsome" _Shina thought with an unnoticeable blush painted on her cheeks.

"Yes, he is a very good person all around" Hinata said (AN: I just want to have Hinata admire his personality and want to be his friend, so you NaruHina fans don't flame me). "He's very determined with everything he does, and he's always willing to protect his precious people."

"His precious people?" Shina asked curiously.

"Yea, he didn't have anybody with him as he grew up, so he always wants to keep those that do befriend him around. They helped him not be lonely as he grew up, so he calls them "precious people"."

"_Lonely, I know that well enough. With Naruto-kun I don't feel as lonely though, I guess that would make him a precious person to me."_

Before they could continue their conversation, however, they heard a distinct yell that sounded something like

"SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!!!!"

**Leaving off of the guy's conversation:**

"W-w-what are you t-t-talking about; s-s-she's not my g-g-girlfriend" he stuttered as a blush was painted on his cheeks.

"Really? It sure seems that way" Kiba said innocently. _"This is gonna be easy."_

"Well, if she's not your girlfriend, mind getting me a date with her?" Kiba asked.

"_Kiba's always looking for a fight" _the bug carrier thought in the same monotone as his voice.

"I'm not getting you a date with Shina Kiba" Naruto said with the blush starting to fade from his face.

"Aww, come on pal, she's totally hot, and you're her only friend so far. Can you at least put in a good word for me please" Kiba said with a small hint of pleading mixed in.

"Kiba I said no" the blonde haired shinobi said with a bit of seriousness. "She just moved here Kiba; I think it's a bit soon."

"So she just moved here? No wonder she thought it was okay to be your girlfriend" he said in a mocking tone.

"And what is that supposed to mean dog-boy?" Naruto said with rising anger.

"_Time for the kill"_ dog-boy thought mischievously. "Well, your loud, obnoxious, a ramen fanatic, without a sense of fashion, so it just seems weird a hot girl like that would want to be your girlfriend."

With a brand new blush, this time made from anger, Naruto yelled:

"SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!!!!"

As the girls came running over to see what all the commotion was about, they saw Naruto and Kiba in fighting stances. After a few seconds, the two shinobi charged at each other, but before their first hits could land, a poof of smoke appeared, and revealed Kakashi in his usual book reading pose.

"Yo" he said as he waved a hand in the air.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei! What are you doing here?!" Naruto asked.

"I was ordered by Hokage-sama to find you and Shina and tell you to head to her office" he said not taking his eyes off his book.

"I haven't introduced you to Shina-chan yet. Shina-chan this is Kakashi-sensei, sensei this is-"

"Hokage-sama already told the jounin instructors by her, Naruto. Just head over to Tsunade's office. So long" he said as he disappeared into another plume of smoke.

"We'll have to settle this later, dog-boy. Come on, Shina-chan, let's get going" he said happily as he walked away.

"So long everyone, it was nice meeting you" Shina said before catching up to Naruto.

As they were on their way to Tsunade's office, they noticed the sun was beginning to set. They were walking and talking, but Shina could notice the glares sent to Naruto by the villagers again. _"I wonder if he'll ever trust me enough to tell me why they hate him" _she thought as they continued down the road. Once they got inside the tower, they mad their way up the staircase and through the hallway before reaching the door to her office. Opening the door without knocking, Naruto stepped inside the office, yelling "Granny Tsunade" and getting hit into the wall of her office before Shina even stepped in.

"_Does this happen all the time, if so wouldn't he have brain damage by now?"_ were a couple of questions that went through her mind as she and Tsunade waited for Naruto to regain consciousness, which took less time than Shina thought.

"Granny Tsunade, what was that for?!" the blonde haired shinobi yelled whilst rubbing his head.

Trying desperately not to punch him again for that comment, she said through gritted teeth "That was for 1) calling me Granny Tsunade and 2) that comment about me without my jutsu." With that, Shina saw Naruto pale a bit, much to Tsunade's pleasure, noting he probably wanted to change the subject fast.

"What did you want to talk to us about?" Shina asked after helping Naruto up.

"Well, I'm happy to say you are now a Konoha shinobi on Team 7" Tsunade said happily tossing a hitae-ate to the red-headed girl. "Also, I have two pieces of news for your living arrangements. You will be living with Naruto. Seeing as he is your only other full-time teammate, it would make it a lot simpler when getting you guys for missions." Both Naruto and Shina both wore a look of surprise and shock.

"But Granny Tsunade, my apartment isn't big enough, it is a one person place" Naruto said.

"This leads me to my other point Naruto. I decided to give you a new apartment so you'll each be able to live there. Here's a key for each of you (gives them each a key). I already had some gennin move your stuff there, Naruto, so you guys are dismissed" she said with a smile on her face.

"Wow, thanks Granny Tsunade" Naruto replied resulting in a glare from her that could make grown men wet their pants. Quick to get out of there, Naruto grabbed Shina's hand, rushed out of there, and shut the door before the stapler could hit him. Once out of the door, the pair each heard a low grumbling sound. Turning to Naruto, Shina couldn't help but giggle a bit at the randomness of it.

"Well, I think now would be a good time for dinner, what do you think?" he said oblivious to the fact he was still holding her hand. As he looked towards her for an answer, however, he saw what he was doing and the resulting blush on each could be seen from the Hokage Monument.

"_I didn't even notice it was there her hand was so soft. Stupid Naruto"_ he thought berating himself for possibly making her mad.

"_He was holding my hand" _she thought, trying to burn the memory of the gesture and feel of his hand into her brain; their blushes beginning to fade.

"I think it would just be better if we just checked out our apartment, if you don't mind" she said shyly still thinking of what happened just a few seconds before.

"Ok, sure, lets get going!" he said regaining his childish attitude.

Due to another case of Naruto's sense of direction, or lack of to be more correct, it was a bit late by the time they made it to the apartment. As they went to open the door, they saw a note on it from Tsunade. On it said: (AN: Just making what the letter said italicized)

_Dear Shina and Naruto,_

_As I already said before, I made sure Naruto's old furniture was moved here, along with any other personal possessions he might have had. Except for the couch, however; I had that thrown away and got you a new one. Just think of it as an early birthday present from me. For you, Shina, I got you some spare clothes and pajamas. Shina's bedroom is the first door to right past the kitchen, Naruto's the first door left. Both of you behave yourselves, and Welcome to Konoha._

_Sincerely,_

_Tsunade - Godaime Hokage_

"Wow, Granny Tsunade is awesome!" Naruto exclaimed happily.

"Well, I think we should explore it now, how about you?" Shina asked, happy as well for being received so much kindness.

As they walked through the door, they first came into the living room. It was pretty plain right now, with just a couch that could fit maybe four people all sitting up, with a short table in front of it and a television on the wall next to the door. Turning to the left, they saw an open doorway, which led into the kitchen. Walking in there, they found another note on the table from Tsunade which said:

_Dear Naruto and Shina,_

_Decided to get you guys some food too, so that way Naruto won't disgust you with his ramen obsession _(Hey!)_. Don't worry, I kept your ramen too Naruto, hopefully Shina can help you eat more healthy, pray to Kami_ (Shina giggles).

_Sincerely,_

_Tsunade – Godaime Hokage_

"Well, at least she kept the ramen" he grumbles, obviously irritated at the contents of this letter.

"I think it would be a good idea to get to bed, wouldn't you?" The red-headed girl said walking down the hallway that led to their bedrooms. When they saw the two doors across from each other, Naruto was about to tell her goodnight, when he felt a comfortable warmth cling to him in a hug from his side, a feeling he never had before. Turning to she Shina wrapped around him in a hug with another small blush on her cheeks, he couldn't help but give her a small embrace as well. Both of them forgot their appetite, and most of the reality around them, as they cherished this moment neither had experienced much before.

"I suppose this is thanks for the tour?' He asked relishing in the warmth of another.

"That, and for being my first friend, so thank you" she said, her thoughts swimming from the feeling of his form enveloping hers.

"_Her first friend?"_ he thought curiously. Before he could question her about it, however, the feeling of her warmth was already gone and she was saying goodnight, hurrying into her room. He decided to chalk it up as something to ask later, and walked into his own room. He found some pajamas to change into, and fell into the bed. Before he could fall asleep though, he could hear the voice of his inner tenant. Before Naruto realized, he found himself in the familiar dark and dreariness of his mind's hallway, still up to his ankles in the cold dampness of the water. Naruto stared out into Kyuubi's cage, where he saw another familiar sight of the fox in all his glory, though shrunken in size to just a bit larger than him, with his piercing red gaze looking at him.

"**Man, kit, I knew you'd get over Sakura but I didn't think it would happen in a day" he said in a low growl.**

"_What are you talking about Kyuubi-teme?" _Naruto called out to him, already miffed at being dragged here for apparently no reason.

"**Show some respect, baka!" He growled dangerously.**

"_Yea, whatever, dumb fox" _he mumbled_"What are you talking about anyway?"_

"**Even your not that stupid kit, one word, Shina-chan."**

"_She's just a friend, how do you know about it anyway? You said you couldn't see what I saw anyway."_

"_**Sure, keep telling yourself that kit" **_**he thought to himself. "That is part of the real reason I brought you here. Take a look at the seal kit and tell me what you see."**

Deciding to do what he says, he takes a look at the paper with the kanji for "seal" on it. _"I don't see anything wrong with it Kyuubi."_

"**Look closer, idiot." **As he did, Naruto discovered that the top left corner was peeled off, even though only a centimeter or two, it was still cause for concern for our blonde haired container.

"_AAAAAHHHHH! What's going on, what's going on?! What does this mean Kyuubi?!" _He yelled frantically, running in circles as he did so.

"**Shut up and I'll tell you!!!" the kitsune roared, to which Naruto quickly did. **_**"God, how obnoxious." **_**"Well, it appears your usage of my powers is wearing the seal away at an accelerated rate, and you have no idea what I'm talking about right?"**

"_Umm not really" _he said rubbing his head sheepishly. _**"God, why did I get such a baka, Kami, why?"**_

"**Basically, kit, this seal was made for my chakra to be absorbed by you over the years, and was in fact going to finish in maybe the next 3 or 4 years. However, your stupid Yondaime made it so that you weren't supposed to use my chakra in the way u have, mainly turning into those tailed stages. Apparently, the first time you used my power the seal started to weaken, causing more of my chakra than usual to be absorbed into your system at once, thus your atrocious skill at chakra control **_(Hey!)_**. It isn't something that will kill you since the absorption is almost done, but if you use it even one more time, the seal will become weak enough for my physical traits to present itself on you too."**

"_So, you mean I'll become a fox?" _Naruto asked nervously, afraid of what the fox's last statement might imply.

"**It won't be that serious, but you would probably fox like appendages, such as tails and ears, and other subtle changes I'm not sure about. Look at it this way kit, if you do have to use me again, your girlfriend would probably love those tails" he said with a snicker. **

"_O shut it baka-kitsune!!" Naruto yelled as he felt his consciousness slip into his dreams._

**Shina's room, same time:**

As she slipped into her room, she slipped into some pajamas she found and slipped into bed, still thinking of the events over today, especially right out in the hallway. Thinking back to that moment, she remembered how warm it felt in his embrace, but then becoming terrified at what she just did.

"_I can't believe I just did that! He probably thinks I'm weird, especially with what I said" _Shina thought to herself. _"Why did I even do that? I'm sure it was just gratitude for him actually being my friend. "He was also so kind and caring, so much different than the villagers."_

"_So were the other people you met today, but you haven't thought of them for any more than a second" that deeper part of her subconscious said._

"_And what does that mean?" _Shina thought to herself.

"_Looks like you like him" the deeper part said._

"_Sure, he is my friend" _she quickly retaliated.

"_Yes, a friend, but you're hoping for more" the deeper part said._

"_I am not, I'm glad he was even my friend at all. But then again, of course they'll all nice, they don't know what I have inside me, who the real me is. Then they'll probably hate me, just like old times. Before then, I might as well enjoy the feeling of having a friend." _she thought sadly as she drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

Unknown to the pair, a pair of black robed people were watching them from the adjacent roof, their straw wide brimmed hats covering their faces, their cloaks flowing softly and the bells on their hats sounding slightly in the breeze. The taller one to the right seemed to posses a bluish skin and what might be gills that presented itself to the moonlight. Anybody who watched them closely could see the sharp-toothed smirk painted on the man's face.

"Hehehe, looks like the demon container has himself a girlfriend; think we should break up their happy little home Itachi?"he replied to the other, slightly shorter man to his left. That person, however, had an even more intimidating face than his counterpart. It appeared calculating and trained to not show any emotion at all. His onyx eyes now revealed from under his hat held a piercing gaze, yet seemed as dead and unemotional as his face and voice.

"Not here, Kisame, we do not want to attract too much attention" he said in a voice that made him seem deader, a voice which also could not betray his emotions. "An opportunity will present itself soon enough, but for now we will wait patiently for him most vulnerable."

"Fine, fine, but I will get to shave off a body part. You know I hate waiting" the blue-skinned man said. Before you could even realize it, they seemed to disappear from the rooftop, as if they were never there.

* * *

Narrator: Thanks for waiting a bit patiently, was working out ideas for the next few chapters. 

Still summertime for me, alright, but I think that's enough celebrating now.

Please Read and Review


	5. Akatsuki Interference

Disclaimer: I don't Naruto, but you prob know that by now

**Chapter 5: Akatsuki Interference:**

The next three weeks for Naruto and Shina were pretty uneventful. Shina would usually get up a bit earlier than Naruto would, do her morning routine, and cook breakfast. That first morning of them living together, Shina wanted to thank Naruto for all he did by making him breakfast. Neither of them decided to talk about what occurred before bed last night, the memory (and slight embarrassment) still fresh in their minds. At first, he was a bit skeptical, because she had actually made a nutritious breakfast other than the ramen he was used to eating. After the first couple of bites, however, he discovered how great a cook she was, which he wasn't hesitant to point out, giving her another blush. After they had breakfast, they would each head out to train.

Before they actually did any training the first day, they each shared some things about their training, techniques, and ninja career. Shina had been a gennin around the same amount of time Naruto has, with and affinity to fire jutsus. She already knew a few fire and wind techniques, mainly working on increasing her chakra capacity with chakra weights and her stamina. Naruto had no idea what those were, so she decided to show him what they were. He noticed the black weight looking straps around her ankles and wrists, and saw them glow in a bluish color as she gathered chakra into them. Shina explained to him how using it to weigh her down during exercise helped with both her stamina and chakra capacity.

Naruto told, more like boast, Shina some of his own skills, such as summoning and of course his skill with kage bunshins. She asked how many he could make, expecting maybe ten to twenty at the most. Was she ever surprised to see their whole field filled with maybe 1000 or so clones! After recovering from her utter shock, he was able to also display his move the Rasengan. Even she knew of the fourth's technique, and she even asked if he was related. Naruto was quick to say no, saying how ero-sennin taught it to him. When she asked who ero-sennin was, he told her how it was Jiraiya, which she couldn't help but laugh at the nickname he gave his sensei. When Naruto even said how he might visit sometimes and how he could help train her, she hugged him again in gratitude, something the Kyuubi would not let go of the rest of the day. With that, they began a regular training schedule where she would do some practice with her techniques, then do laps and other stamina exercises with her chakra weights. While she did that, Naruto would use his Kage bunshins, about 200 would do various chakra control exercises, while the other 800 would continue the work he did before, completing the rasengan. When Naruto told Shina about this, she herself thought it was awesome for him to do something so incredible, which he couldn't help but blush from. It was yet another thing Kyuubi poked fun at him for all day long.

At around lunch time, they spent about an hour to get some lunch. Of course, Naruto preferred going to his favorite ramen shop, where Ayame would sometimes get a joke in or two about them having lunch together, as if Kyuubi wasn't bugging the blonde haired shinobi enough. Some of the days, however, they would get some dangoes, Naruto's treat, much to Shina's delight. After lunch, they would spar a little while, then spend the rest of time between then and dinner just walking around town, avoiding as many villagers as possible, or in the forest. When the sun began to set, they would head back home, Shina would make dinner, now for two instead of her usual lonesome, and then they would head to bed after saying goodnight, ready for the next day.

Naruto couldn't help but feel unbridled joy whenever he saw her smiling and happy, like a special treasure, her smile looked totally unique and something only he could create. When Shina was around him, she didn't look annoyed, or underestimate him like his friends, and not disgusted. She would always believe in his skills, and never once chastised or berated him for his dream of being Hokage. Her elegant face only seemed to show content and happiness hanging around him, but he could still see a look in her comforting fire-shaded eyes like she held a secret far back in his mind, like any happiness she received could end all too soon. It was a look he knew all too well, even though he had no idea why she seemed that way, and he dared not ask for fear of losing such a great friend. She also sometimes had a look of thought, like she was trying to figure out something, but it would only seem to be there for a second before disappearing, so he didn't worry about it much. Our blonde haired carrier was just happy to be with somebody as awesome as her. The Kyuubi, however, had a slight suspicion. During the times Naruto spent with her, he could feel a slightly different aura around the girl. Whether it was adept at masking its presence, or is just dormant, he couldn't be sure. Although he told of his suspicions to Naruto, she hasn't been a threat to them at all, and has only been a friend. So Kyuubi just continually kept a watch for the aura, wondering why it felt slightly familiar to him, though weak the aura is.

Shina couldn't believe her luck in her current situation. Only about a month ago, she had been in her own village, lonely and persecuted, despised, and you could basically say she was tortured mentally with it all. Now, she was in a grand, peaceful, beautiful village with a kind Hokage who couldn't care less about her "condition," and in fact knew of another like her in the city. Though our red headed girl hoped to meet the girl or boy who was so similar to her, she couldn't seem to bring herself to want stay away from Naruto for the length of time she knew it would probably take to find the person. Around Naruto, she was happy at finally having a great friend, even though he didn't know all about her yet. She would attempt to delusion herself at how he might accept her despite her demon, though she never fully believed it. After all the years in her town, she didn't think anybody not the same as her could understand or even want to bother. She wasn't even sure why she cared so much whether Naruto accepted her or not. Nothing he seemed to do ever appeared wrong, amusing perhaps, but not disgusting or annoying. Shina even enjoyed his childish attitude, like he's still enjoying the childhood and innocence she wishes she had. Around the blonde haired shinobi, she felt something in the back of her mind, like something trying to stir. Usually, it was slight feeling and only a short time, like a second, so she would just ignore it.

Being the shinobi they are of course, they would still be assigned missions on a couple of days. Naruto never missed the cue of barging into her office, yelling "Tsunade-baa-chan!" resulting in yet more bruises possibly resulting in unwanted brain damage, though both the women doubted that. Most of their missions were D-rank missions, much to the horror of the duo gennin. Some were the basic chores that would be assigned on D-rank, but a couple of times they did receive the dreaded "Tora Retrieval" mission. Shina wondered why Naruto seemed to despise it so, but after one day of doing the mission 10 times, she soon found she despised it with equal ferocity as any leaf gennin. The last time they did it they almost didn't get paid for the condition Tora was in. The evil cat seemed to be in some bad shape with some missing patches of fur that appeared burned off. Naruto and Shina explained that it traveled into a mine field and set off a weaker one before they caught it, but the sadistic smiles hidden behind their mask of innocence told Tsunade all she needed to know. Not that she minded of course, always having that unwanted paperwork of having to assign that mission so much.

One day, Shina and Naruto have been doing their regular training regime for about an hour, when a familiar sight shows up in a puff of smoke, revealing the pervert with his nose buried in his book.

"Yo" the grey haired jounin said casually raising a hand at them.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei" both of the gennin greet him, one obviously a bit louder (guess who?).

"Hey Kakashi-sensei what are you doing here? Checking up on my progress with rasengan huh?" Naruto boasted. "No" Kakashi said plainly, causing Naruto's head to droop. "I came to tell you we need to go to the Godaime's office."

"Alright, let's get going!" Naruto yelled happily. Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving Naruto and Shina to walk there together. By the time the two got up there, they already saw Kakashi by the door. Walking in, Naruto once again yelled Tsunade-baa-chan, resulting in another punch to the head and sweatdrops on the two onlookers.

"Okay, I'm assigning Team 7 a C-rank mission." Before Tsunade could continue, she was interrupted by the loudmouth ninja.

"Alright! It's been forever since I got a mission other than D-rank!"

"Shut up Naruto and I could continue" Tsunade said through gritted teeth, after weighing the choice that punching him again would just keep them here longer. "Now, the mission is just a basic scouting mission through Konoha's forests from the South Gate. It should take you guys about a day or two to complete, so get going." Leaving her office before Naruto could make another comment, Kakashi told the pair to be at the south gate in about an hour. Quickly getting home, Shina and Naruto packed up their clothes, tent, sleeping bag, and in Naruto's case ramen cups. After that, they reach the gate, where after the hour is finished they're still waiting for sensei. Amazingly, he only arrives two hours late, so Naruto decides to leave it, seeing as how it's still better than three. With that, they leave the gates and begin to explore the forest.

Knowing the forest basically by heart, Kakashi and Naruto had no problem getting around, but Naruto traveled next to Shina so she wouldn't get lost or lose track of them. They traveled around in the forest all day, but it didn't look like there were any bandits or the sort around. Team 7 kept going, however, until the sun began to set. They found a clearing with a river nearby, so Kakashi went to look for food, while Naruto got firewood and Shina set up camp. The first one to get back was Naruto, so he and Shina set up the fire and just sat next to each other watching the fire until Kakashi came back a short while later. The masked jounin returned carrying a few rabbits, and had those for dinner despite Naruto's plead to have some ramen.

When team 7 finished dinner, they came up with the watch schedule. Kakashi volunteered to take half the night, while Naruto and Shina cold split the other half. After it was done, Shina went into her tent to sleep, while Naruto preferred taking up a spot on a wide branch. Nothing interesting happened during Kakashi's shift, and before he knew it his hours were up. So he then went up to Naruto's branch and woke him up so he could get to sleep. Naruto just stayed up on the branch to keep an eye out for anybody. At one point, he could have sworn he felt a chakra signature, but it was gone as fast as it had appeared, so he thought it was his imagination. Pretty soon, he had to go wake up Shina for the final shift. As he reached the sleeping bag she was in, he could see her face. It had a small smile on it, she looked totally peaceful and he really didn't want to wake her up. However, he did anyways, and she soon took a spot by the fire as he went back up onto his branch for some more sleep. Though the red headed nin was vigilant, she couldn't help but sneak some looks to the blonde haired shinobi in the tree. Before she realized, dawn was approaching and both the sleeping shinobi were waking up.

After everyone was awake, Kakashi went to catch some fish while Naruto and Shina prepared the fire. He came back in a few minutes with a fish for each of them, and afterwards they took down the camp and were on their way back.

They were still a few miles away from the south gate when Shina decided to comment on the mission.

"This was pretty boring, wasn't it Naruto-kun?"

"Yea, I thought for sure I'd get to beat up some bandits or something" Naruto whined a little.

"It can't be helped, let's just head back to Konoha and-" but before Kakashi could finish, the team could feel the air displacement behind them and jumped to the ground to dodge the shuriken. Turning around, they saw two men, both of them wearing black cloaks with red clouds embroidered on them. Removing their straw hats, the Konoha nin could see the taller one on the left had blue skin with what appeared to be gills and wearing a shark toothed smirk. The other one, however, showed no emotion on his face, his onyx eyes did not betray his emotions.

"Uchiha-teme, fish man, get out of here! I don't want to deal with you right now!" Naruto yelled to the pair.

"Look Itachi, the brat thinks he can order us around" the blue man said, the smirk not disappearing from his face. "Now you agreed I could shave off a limb, right?"

"Yes Kisame, just be sure to keep him alive, we need to bring him back" the man with the onyx eyes said in a monotone.

"Who are these two?" Shina asked, not taking her eyes off of them.

"Akatsuki" Kakashi said seriously, removing his hitae-ate from his eye. "I'll hold them off. Naruto, Shina, get out of here and get help."

"Hai" they both said, jumping away.

"Kisame, go after them" Itachi said looking at Kakashi.

"With pleasure" Kisame said, jumping after them. Kakashi was about to go after him, but Itachi appeared in front of him, trying to slash him with a kunai before Kakashi jumped back, taking out his own. "I will not allow you to disrupt our mission" he said in his monotone.

"_I hope they're strong enough to fight Kisame by now" _Kakashi thought getting into his fighting stance.

**In another part of the forest:**

"Hurry up Shina-chan! We have to get help for Kakashi-sensei ASAP!"

"What's wrong Naruto-kun?! Who are those guys?!" Shina said the worry evident in his voice.

"I don't have time to tell you all the details, but let's just say they're the bad guys" he said as they continued the trek towards Konoha. They weren't able to get much farther, however, when one of the men appeared, swinging his sword and breaking the branch Naruto was about to land on. He fell to the ground hard, but Shina helped him up as they glared at the man in front of them.

"Kay brat, it's time to come with me" the shark man said while the bandages his sword had were taken off.

"Like hell I will!" Naruto said, charging towards Kisame. "Shina-chan stay back!" he yelled running forward, he made the ram seal for his specialty jutsu, the shadow clone jutsu. He made five clones, making six of him in all. Three of them began throwing shuriken at the swordsman, who easily blocked them with his sword and slashed at the other three going for a close range assault, making them poof out of existence like it was nothing. Charging forward so fast they had trouble seeing him, he punched the three clones, but all three of them poofed into clouds of smoke. Looking behind quickly, Kisame saw four Naruto's charging at him. Getting ready to slash at them too, he didn't notice the ground beneath him until the Naruto under it already punched him upwards, the clones quickly taking the chance to do their Uzumaki Barrage. Each hit was a success, but before the last Naruto kicked him downward, Kisame grabbed his leg and swung him downward. Following the toss, the shark man flashed through some seals, yelling "Water Shark Missiles!" Shina saw a shark made out of water slam into Naruto, driving him into a tree. The blonde shinobi, however, recovered after a couple of seconds quickly. Making some more clones, he charged at Kisame again. Kisame was becoming anxious to finish this battle fast, slashing through the clones easily. Feeling a presence behind him, he turned to see another Naruto with a blue sphere in his hands. He could hear the blonde shinobi yell "Rasengan!" before driving his sphere into the sword to block. _"Damn this kid, this attack is too strong" _Kisame thought trying to keep it at bay. _"Just a little bit further" _Naruto thought as he drove the sphere further, before knocking the sword out of Kisame's hands and driving the sphere into his gut. As he went spinning into a tree, however, the Kisame he hit and the sword dissolved into water. _"Damn a Mizu Bunshin!" _Naruto thought before feeling a heavy blow to the head, beginning to lose consciousness. Seeing Shina running towards him, a look of concern and worry in his face, the last thing he could say before his consciousness slipped away was "Shina-chan … get out … of … here."

**Kakashi and Itachi's battle, same time as Naruto vs., Kisame:**

Itachi immediately through some shuriken at Kakashi, who jumped to the left to avoid them. While in midair, however, Itachi appeared behind him in a flash, stabbing his back with a kunai. The Kakashi he stabbed, however, poofed out of existence. "A kage bunshin, clever Kakashi" Itachi said before jumping into the air to avoid his underground assault. As he appeared from the ground, Kakashi flashed through some hand seals, shooting a great fireball towards Itachi. The Sharingan master flashed through his own seals, sending another fireball, which collided into Kakashi's and made an explosion. As the smoke cleared, Itachi saw Kakashi coming forward with another kunai for some close combat. Their kunai clashed as they traded blow for blow and kick for kick at speeds that most shinobi would have some trouble following. Neither of the fighters could land a hit on each other though. They soon separated, and Kakashi tossed some shuriken at Itachi, which he caught. During that, Kakashi flashed through the seal for his original jutsu. The Uchiha killer saw Kakashi running towards him with a white ball of lightning chakra, yelled "Raikiri," and landed the attack into his left shoulder. Instead of Itachi falling back, however, Kakashi was surprised to see him grab his wrist. What Kakashi heard from Itachi next instilled some surprise, and even a bit of fear.

"Boom"

And at that, the Itachi his wrist was in exploded, sending Kakashi flying into the tree. As he was recovering, he looked up to see Itachi staring at him with his Mangekyo Sharingan. The world turned into a familiar red sky with black moon. Kakashi was trapped on a cross, and saw Itachi in front of him holding a katana.

"For the next 72 hours, you will suffer by being impaled by this katana continuously. With that, he let the torture commence. After what seemed like forever to Kakashi, who already seemed worn out, he could hear Itachi say again "Just 71 hours, 59 minutes, and 59 seconds to go."

In the real world, what occurred in Tsukyomi's world only happened in the span of a second. In that second, however, Kakashi collapsed and lost consciousness from the mental strain.

"Now to take the Fourth's Legacy to-" is what the Sharingan master said before feeling a large chakra spike a couple miles from here. "This is unexpected" was all the man said before heading off to the chakra spike.

**Naruto, Shina, and Kisame, Itachi's fight finishing:**

"Naruto-kun!" Shina called as she saw him collapse under the hit from the broadside of the Samehada. Charging towards them, she threw some shuriken towards Kisame, which he deflected easily. Shina threw a variety of punches and kicks at the shark man, all to be blocked, before he countered with his own punch to her gut. Recovering fast, she pulled out a kunai just in time to block a blow from his Samehada.

"Tell me, foolish girl, you think you can protect that demon over there" he mocked before applying more pressure. He was able to overpower her in his better position, and shaved off a good part of the skin on her shoulder, the wound flowing blood a bit freely. Kisame also got in a hard blow into her gut and sending her into a tree.

"As you may have noticed, my sword is made from scales; meaning it _shaves _instead of cut."

Getting back up, she went through some hand seals and yelled "Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu." The swordsman quickly retaliated with his Water Shark Missiles, which overpowered her fireball and still flew toward her. Shina was narrowly able to avoid them as she jumped to the right and threw some more shuriken at Kisame. Though he blocked or dodged them all, one of them was really a kunai with an exploding note attached, which activated when he hit it, causing an explosion that sent Naruto's limp, unconscious form towards Shina. She caught him quickly and laid him against a tree trunk, but was too distracted to see Kisame charge behind her. He got another blow with Samehada to her back, shaving off more skin and followed with a punch, making her crash into the same tree she laid Naruto on and landed onto Naruto's lap looking up at him.

The red headed kunoichi could feel some broken ribs and some bones in her arms were busted. Feeling her will to fight leave her, she looked up onto Naruto's face, and shed tears not from the pain of her body, but because she was too weak to protect her only precious person here.

"_Not again, I can't lose another person, not again" _she thought, still spilling some silent tears. Kisame kept walking closer, a smirk evident on his face. As this was happening, she could feel something arise in the back of her mind, in a way calling out to her. Shina saw the edges of her vision turning black, the last thing she saw Naruto's whiskered marked face.

**Area Unknown:**

When Shina first regained consciousness, the first thing she noticed was that it was pretty dark. As her sight adjusted to the lack of light, she then saw how she was in, a sewer? The last thing she remembered was being in a forest fighting that shark man in the cloak. Deciding to explore, she went down the hallway for what seemed like forever. There wasn't much to see, just some pipes and murky water that pooled around her feet all over the hallway.

After what seemed like an hour of walking she finally stumbled in front of a large cage. She saw that the cage had a door, but instead of a regular lock there was a piece of paper that had the kanji for "seal" written on it. After looking at it, she finally decided to call out to inside the cage.

"Hello is anybody in there! Helloooo!" After a few seconds without an answer, she was ready to turn around and move on, until she heard what sounded a bit like a screech. Looking into the cage again, the first thing Shina noticed was a big pair of Orange eyes, similar to her own. They promised power and harm to those who cross her, yet something she didn't expect in a demon, was it kindness? Pretty soon, a body appeared with the eyes, revealing a majestic phoenix. The red and orange feathers all around its body is surrounded by a heated fire; that gave it a commanding and powerful look. A strange sight that made it more different from other birds is that it had four wings and six tails made of a fire with the same shades as her hair. When it spoke, it sounded feminine and strangely human.

"**Welcome, daughter. I expect you can tell who I am?" Its voice boomed through the cage.**

"Are you the demon sealed inside me? The Houyoku no Rokudou?" Shina said, a bit afraid and nervous in front of the demon.

"**Yes, but there is no need to fear me, daughter. My actual name, however, is Hinagusami. **

"Comforting Flame? Didn't expect a name like that for a destructive demon. Why are you calling me daughter anyway?"

"**From in your mind, I have seen what has happened to you in your life, and I know that you do not deserve it, when it was my fault. I wanted to help you, but this seal has kept me from contacting you and helping you when you needed it. I am sorry for making your life so terrible, but I have also seen what has been happening to you since you have arrived. That Uzumaki boy has helped you a lot since you came I see."**

With the last sentence, Shina was instantly reminded of what was happening at the time she ended up in this sewer. "Naruto-kun! Help me get out of here! He's about to be kidnapped! What do I do, what do I do?!"

"**Calm down, daughter. I said I wanted to help how I can now, and protecting others is what I used my power for, I shall be glad to help you" Hinagusami said trying to calm her down.**

"And how are you going to help me?" the red headed girl asked curiously, her eyes filled with hope. Instead of saying anything, the phoenix in front of her just wrapped her wings around her form. It was incredibly painful, and soon Shina was knocked out.

**Real World:**

Kisame saw their still forms and knew he had won. "Finally, chasing this guy lost its edge like a year ago." As he was walking up to the tree the two shinobi were laying at, he was about to grab Naruto when he a massive chakra spike from the girl who was laying on him.

Before he knew it, Kisame was taken by surprised when the girls eyes opened, revealing the same orange by what appeared to be living red flames from the edge of her eyes towards her black slits for pupils. They had a look of hate and pure determination on them. With his surprise, Shina was able to get a surprised uppercut on the shark man, sending him a few yards back before landing on his knees. Looking up, Kisame saw an orange red chakra surrounding the red headed girl. It soon began to take shape around her form, except it added two wings and two tails made completely out of chakra. She seemed to look a bit like a phoenix, the chakra around her moving around like a flame, yet it didn't seem to burn her it was obvious it could burn what it wanted badly.

"**You will not harm Naruto-kun" **the girl said in a more demonic voice, one that promised pain, before he was taken by surprise again at her speed when she appeared behind him and punched him away into a tree. Regaining his bearings, he drew his Samehada and charged towards the girl with a vertical slash.

"Like you can stop me brat" he mocked as she blocked the strike with her wings. They appeared to be in a stalemate, but Shina noticed how her wings seemed to be thinning before spotting the chakra being absorbed into the sword. Thinking fast, Shina grabbed the man's leg with her two tails and swung him away, a bit more exhausted from the amount of chakra he took.

As he stood back up, he flashed through some seals, then charging with his sword again. This time, Shina used one of her tails to impale him, although instead of blood it leaks out water. _"Mizu Bunshin!" _She thought before turning around and using her wings to block his sword just in time. Unlike in Naruto's fight, she then used her wings to push him away before he could do much. As he was getting up, Itachi appeared next to him, staring at the girl demon container without a hint of emotion.

"It appears as though we have another demon container to deal with, huh Itachi?" Kisame said quietly so Shina couldn't hear.

"It seems so, Kisame. We shall withdraw for now and report to Leader-sama with this new information." And with that, they each disappeared without a trace. Once they disappeared, Shina could feel the incredible feeling of the chakra withdrawing into her body, leaving her totally exhausted. When she looked normal again, she could feel the exhaustion kick in. The red headed phoenix container could feel a couple of chakra signatures coming this way, her last thought were _"Naruto-kun…I did it…"_

The first sight she could see was a bright light. Adjusting to the light, the red headed jinchuuriki saw a lot of white, which she could instantly recognize as the hospital's tiled ceiling. Looking down at her body, she could see her wearing the regular hospital gown, with some bandages wrapped around her midsection and around her left shoulder. When Shina observed the view outside her window, she could see Konoha and the night sky as people began to go back to their houses and out of the streets.

"_Well, nice to know I'm not dead, seeing as I'm in pain. Wait, what about Naruto-kun?! Where is he?!"_

Full with worry, Shina tries to get up from her bed, but still feels a pain in her back and shoulder, including a feeling of exhaustion wash over her features. On the table next to her bed, Shina found an assortment of flowers and cards addressed to her. When she took a look at the grandest bouquet, the red head saw on the card it red _From Naruto._

"_That's pretty nice of them all, didn't think they cared that much" _she thought not being able to help with the slight blush from how grand Naruto's flower bouquet was. While stuck in her thoughts, she could see a familiar face come into the room. Looking at the door, she saw Shizune coming in with a clipboard.

"O, Shina, it looks like you're finally awake" she said with a happy smile on.

"Hello, Shizune, how long have I been out?" Shina asked curiously.

Shizune replied "You've been out for a while, maybe around 5 days; you had some major blood loss from your back and shoulder, not to mention some broken bones. There was even some internal bleeding and a bad case of chakra exhaustion. You guys were lucky people found you in time, otherwise you could have died. That chakra spike in the forest alerted some ANBU units and found your team all unconscious."

"_All right Hina helped me protect Naruto; I'll have to thank her later."_

**Shina could hear a feminine voice in her head "That's alright, and you're welcome." **

"_Whoa, who said that? Am I going crazy?!"_

"**No, you are not crazy, it's me, remember? I'll tell you why you can hear me later." **Seeing Shina still in a bit of a daze, Shizune waved a hand in front of her face a little worried "Shina, you still there?"

"Huh, o, sorry, guess I sort of spaced out. What about Kakashi-sensei and Naruto-kun? Are they alright?"

"Well, Kakashi is still unconscious, we still don't know for sure what Itachi did to him, but we are guessing it was the Mangekyo."

"Mangekyo?" Shina asked curiously (AN: She's new here, she doesn't know much about the Uchiha).

"I'll let Naruto tell you that later" Shizune replied.

"Naruto-kun is all right, isn't he?" the red head worriedly asked Shizune, though it just left her with a small smile. _"It's nice to see somebody care about you now, Naruto."_

"Don't worry, he's fine. In fact, he's the first of you three to recover; he's been up for about three days. He's been an extra pain trying to get him to leave so he'll go eat and stuff. If you'll excuse me for a second" and with that Tsunade's apprentice left the room, leaving Shina alone. She wasn't able to think for very long, however, before she could hear some shouting in the hallway. Listening closely she could hear sounds that resembled "Is she alright?" and "I'm gonna see her now". Shortly afterwards, the red headed nin saw the door open again to see her blonde haired teammate.

Seeing her awake and looking at him with those orange eyes, he felt a wave of relief over his facial features. Walking towards her bed, he grabbed a chair and sat down next to his bed. What he did next gave Shina a notice able blush.

He hugged her. Not sure what to do to respond, she snaked her arms around his back, giving more to feed her already glowing blush. Naruto also had to hold down his own blush, remembering this warm feeling that first night.

"I'm sorry" Shina could barely make out from the sound of blood rushing in her face.

"Sorry, what for?" She asked curiously.

"I was too weak; you could have died fighting them. I woke up on the way back, you had so much blood on you; I thought you were dead. When I saw that, I knew it was my fault. They were after me, not you; I should have told you to run. Instead I just told you to stay back and play the hero. It's my fault you could have died" he said on the verge of tears.

Shina however was in a bit of shock. _"He really cares, I can't believe it."_

"**Of course, looking back on your memories he seems like a great kid."**

"_Hey, who said you could look at my memories."_

"**I didn't look at everything, just wanted to get caught up with your life here in Konoha. He is a real friend to me. Oh, and you might want to say something to him right now."**

"_Yea, you're right." _"Naruto-kun" Shina started, still holding Naruto, "you didn't do anything wrong. I'm fine right now, and besides I'm just glad I could help."

"Really Shina-chan?" Naruto said calming back down.

"Of course, you're my first and best friend. When those men said they were taking you, I was so worried you'd be gone. There is no way they I could let them take you without a fight" _"Not like my brother" _the red head added silently.

Naruto was dealing with his own thoughts at the time. _"Even none of my friends have cared this much about me. Why would she of all people?"_

Before Naruto could respond, the door opened to reveal both Shizune and Tsunade coming in, and saw the little 'moment' the two having. Wearing a mischievous smirk, Tsunade interrupted with a cough, alerting both the teens to her presence. Seeing the situation, they both detached, Naruto jumping away a few feet like each just caught fire. The shades of red on each face resembled each other well, but made a shade Hinata would be jealous of (AN: if she could be jealous of anything, I say it's her ability to make new shades of blushes jk).

Saving this as ammo for later, Tsunade began what she came in here to do. Get some answers. "Shina, I need you to answer some questions about what happened in that forest. Naruto, I don't think you need to be in here, please leave" the Hokage said, sure to put the authority of her office in it.

"Do I have to Tsu-" Naruto was interrupted before he could whine, however.

"Yes you do, now go" she replied firmly.

"Fine, see you in a bit Shina-chan, bye Tsunade-baa-chan." Before he could walk out on his own, Shizune had to sidestep a flying Naruto from Tsunade's venting her frustration again.

"There, now can you tell me what happened to you two after Naruto was unconscious?"

Nodding her head, Shina told Tsunade about how she was beat by Kisame, but then used her demon's power to hold him off before Itachi showed up and they disappeared.

"Tsunade-sama, why were they after Naruto-kun?" Shina asked curiously. She wanted to know why such powerful people wanted to do with Naruto.

"I'm not allowed to tell you that, Shina. It is a very important secret." Although she wasn't satisfied with the answer, the demon container was sure she would not be able to get anything else from her. Shina decided to just ask Naruto later for some answers.

"You're still a bit banged up, Shina, so you will have to spend the rest of the day here, just to be sure" Tsunade said, which Shina agreed, beginning to feel a little tired again. As the two nurses walked out, Naruto quickly came back in, taking a seat on a chair by her bed.

"You don't have to stay if you don't want to, Naruto-kun" Shina told him in a comforting voice.

"Yea, but I want to stay here, by your side" he said happily and flashing his signature fox grin, unknowingly giving Shina a new blush. Thanking him, Shina decides it would be a good time to get to know her tenant. With that in mind, she loses her grip on her conscious form as she is called into the back of her mind.

**Shina's mind:**

As Shina was walking through her mind, she noticed one huge difference about the place. Instead of a sewer like last time, now she had a giant field with wide open sky with a few trees.

"What the hell happened here? Why is it so different?" Before Shina could even call for the phoenix, she could already see a flaming object in the sky that looked like a bird. She was able to recognize it immediately as Hinagusami. Calling her name into the sky, the flaming object flew down quite quickly, landing a few feet away from the red head.

"**There you are child, what do you want?" the phoenix said in a firm yet slightly comforting voice.**

"Well, I think it's about time you answered some questions of mine. First of all, what happened to this place?"

"**Well, that is simple. Basically, when you used my power in the forest, your seal broke a bit. Not too much, just enough to give me more access to you mind so I could do things like change your mindscape a bit. I truly think that this is a better improvement."**

"Okay, that makes sense, but just how broken is my seal? You're not gonna be freed or anything right?" Shina asked worriedly.

**Hinagusami gave what sounded like a soft chuckle before she replied. "Let me say, its first line of suppressing me was strong, but now that it is gone the seal is pretty fragile. It is not anything fatal, mind you, but another use of my chakra could prove too much for you. It could overflow your chakra systems."**

"And what then Hina?"

"**You'd die" she stated bluntly. **Seeing the shock on her face inspired another round of laughter from the phoenix demon.

"Hey, it's not funny! If I die, you would too!" Shina yelled at the phoenix mocking her fear.

"**Hmmmm, guess that's true. Now, any other questions?" Hina said looking back down at her vessel.**

"Well" Shina began looking into the phoenix's eyes "Why are you so kind to me? Aren't you demon lords bloodthirsty savages, uh no offense" she added quickly.

"**None taken. In reality, not all of us demons are like that. True, some of us are like that, but I prefer protecting others. Other demons, like the Kyuubi for example (Ironic no?), like to destroy things. It's kind of like a hobby for them. I told Kami the most powerful demon should not like to destroy things, but he **_**never**_** listens to me. Should have made me the nine tails." **At this point, Hinagusami was mainly talking to herself, leaving Shina to sweatdrop at her tenant's behavior.

"Wait; if you like to protect others, than why did you attack my village?"

"**Good question. Well, you remember the tall mountain not too far away from your hidden village, correct? (Shina nods) Well, near the top area, there was a large cave that leads deep into the mountain. In that cave, I had made a nest for my young ones to grow up with. One day, maybe a week before I attacked, there were a group of ninja that came to my cave. One distinct feature I saw was that two of them, a man and a woman, wore black cloaks with red clouds on them. They kept me from going to my nest, and were somehow powerful enough to knock me out, although I gave the man a serious injury on his face. Anyway, when I woke up, I went straight to my nest to make sure my children were all right. When I got there, I found all of my kids dead, and a headband that had your village's symbol on it. Needless to say I went into a righteous fury, which led to all the events of you being inside me."**

"Did you say black cloaks with red clouds?" She asked suddenly.

"**Yes, why?"**

"Those are the people I fought against when I used your power."

"**WHAAAAT" the phoenix screeched, hurting Shina's ears. "Listen, if there is one thing I ever want to ask of you, it's this. Please help me kill all those people and avenge my family."**

"Of course I will, you are one of the few people who care for me. I will help you kill those bastards" Shina said with a look of determination that would make Naruto proud.

"**I've never seen such determination in your eyes, except when protecting that Uzumaki kid. You must really like him huh?" the phoenix asked mischievously. **The response she got was exactly what she wanted. A blushing girl stumbling for the right words to say.

"W-wh-what?" She asked taken aback from the change of subject. "I-I don't know what y-you're talking about."

"**You know I am a powerful demon. I have seen most of your memories already, especially the ones here in Konoha. I can feel your happiness around him, and let me say it's more than you have probably ever felt before. It sounds like love to me" She added in a slightly mocking tone. **

Although Shina wanted to deny it, there was no denying that she _did _feel so much more carefree and happy around Naruto. He was always just so kind and caring to her, always seemed to protect her. She remembered all the time they spent together, and how he went so far to protect her from Kisame. Shina also remembers how she felt when she thought he would be gone from her life, and how far _she _went to protect _him._

"**And let's not forget those times you felt when hugging him" Hina added, eliciting another blush from the girl jinchuuriki and a laugh from the phoenix.**

Though Shina would not ever admit it to anyone, just those short few seconds of memories were some of her happiest. She could still remember how safe and secure she felt with his form right up to hers, wrapped around her like a protective blanket from the world that hated her.

"**So, when do you plan on telling him, because it would be a good idea to tell me at that time too" Hina piped in, if possible making Shina resemble a tomato seeing at what she was thinking that whole time."**

"I can't tell him. If I do he'll just hate me like everyone else, and I can't say I like him without telling him about you, it wouldn't be right. If I can only stay as his friend, then that is how it has to be" and with that Shina left the plain to her field of dreams.

"_**Hmmm, I wonder if I should tell her Naruto has Kyuubi. On second thought, she needs to decide this on her own, it is for the best" **_**were Shina's final thoughts before going to sleep herself.**

While Shina was having her conversation with her tenant, Naruto's own demon was having his own conversation with him.

"**So, kit looks like your girlfriend is fine for someone who fought those bastards" Kyuubi said.**

"_I already told you fox, she's not my girlfriend!"_

"**You keep telling yourself that. I mean look at it, you guys do everything together. You spent all day with her the past few weeks, you even **_**live **_**together."**

"_Hey! That was baa-chan's idea not me!"_

"**Not like you objected though" he added mockingly.**

"_Shut it baka-fox!"_

"**Look, I can see your memories. I see what you see, hear what you hear, heck I can feel what you feel. If you didn't love her, than don't you think I would have told you to kill her or something by now."**

Despite how strange that statement was, Naruto did have to agree that Kyuubi hasn't said anything mean or anything at all about her since she's been here.

"**I'm no specialist on this mushy stuff, but it doesn't mean I don't know how to spot it. I already know how you feel around her."**

"And that's love?" the blonde shinobi asked, resulting in a rare demon facefault.

"**Yes you baka!" he roared "so I'm gonna give you some advice. Tell her about me and your feelings sometime soon, before she realizes how stupid she is to hang out with an idiot like you (**Hey)**."**

Once again, Naruto could not help but agree with Kyuubi, well except for him being an idiot of course. "Hey wait, why are you helping me?"

"**Because, if I've learned anything about how you fight, you fight better when there's a precious person to protect. Don't know, don't care it just happens. So, if you have this girl with you, you fight better, and I live longer. It's win-win for everyone."**

"Maybe I can tell her, I mean she didn't live here, so she has nothing against Kyuubi. But still, what if she still thinks I'm a demon and what if she doesn't feel the same?"

"**Well, hurry up and deal with your self doubt bastard. You try my patience on enough stuff. O yea, remember what I said about the seal too."**

"What about not using your powers?" he asked.

"**No, about how Shina would **_**love **_**your ears and tails" he responded causing Naruto to facefault and Kyuubi roaring with laughter.**

"Damn it Kyuubi, you baka fox!" He yelled before returning to the land of consciousness. As he was coming back to the world of the living, Naruto looked outside to see that night had arrived and most people were in their houses already. Looking down at Shina, the blonde saw Shina visibly shaking and tossing in the bed and muttering, but he could tell she was having a nightmare. A bit worried he whispered her name a couple of times to try and wake her up.

"Shina, shina get up" he whispered but got no response from the red head. When that didn't work, he nudged her a little bit.

"Shina, get up it's just a nightmare." However, Shina started moving more and beginning to yell, tears starting to roll down her face.

"Shina, wake up, shina" Naruto said adding a bit more force into his speech and nudges. With one final yell Shina woke up breathing quickly, a couple more tears still going down her smooth cheeks. He put one hand on her shoulder, while the other was on her cheek, the thumb pad wiping off her tears. Shina could see pools of blue filled with concern.

"Hey Shina, are you okay?" he asked, not able to move his eyes anywhere other than hers. Seeing where his hand was, she couldn't help but blush from the rough but comfortable feel of his hand on her face.

"Yes, I think so. It was just a nightmare" she said a bit quietly.

"Okay then, but get back to sleep, I think it would be best if I head back home now" he said getting off his chair. As he was turning around however, he could feel something smooth and soft take a hold of his hand. When he took a look, he saw it was Shina's hand, with her sporting a small blush though it was a bit too dark in the room to see.

"Um, well, Naruto-kun, could you, um, sleep here with me tonight? I'm a bit shaken from that nightmare" she asked shyly, the blush growing considerably so that even Naruto could see it. Naruto's face felt like it was on fire from the request. Still, he felt incapable to say no to her cute face despite what it might imply.

Although a bit nervous, he slowly climbed into the bed right next to Shina, though now his face felt like it had been in an oven someone forgot to turn off. As he got comfortable on the hospital bed, he put a protective arm around her waist, allowing her to lean somewhat on top of him. Her head was leaning on his muscular chest, listening to his speeding heartbeat from the contact. Though already a bit embarrassed, she wrapped her own arms around Naruto's torso, relishing in his protective and comforting aura. Naruto was combing her long, fire red hair with his other hand hoping to calm her down enough to sleep.

"Goodnight, Shina-chan" he said, the lack of sleep from the past days of waiting finally catching up to him, the last thing he sees is a wave of red to orange-yellow hair like he was sitting in front of a fireplace.

"Thank you, Naru-kun" she said, too sleepy to even comprehend the self conceived nickname, though it gave Naruto a feeling of being accepted and liked instead of hated he's felt for so long. Together in each others arms they slept soundly with dreams of the other (though neither would admit it).

* * *

De-raz: Alright, another chapter done, sorry about all the delays, just enjoying my first days of summer. **What I am saying next is some personal information on Shina, good to read.**

**Name: Shina Morgoshi**

**Age: 15 (Naruto is 15 too)**

**Birthday: November 4**

**Height: 5'8"**

**Weight: I made her, and I still don't know!**

**Description: Red, wavy, long hair that reaches mid back, blends into orange-yellow. Smooth, slightly lean, elegant face. Toned body with body most girls would kill for. Breasts a bit smaller than Tsunade (The least pervish way I could describe them). Orange, slightly red tinted eyes.**

* * *

Right now, I made the time around mid August, and he has been back in Konoha for about three months since the training mission.

Now that might hopefully clear up a couple of things for the later chapters.

Please R&R and have an awesome summer.


	6. Confessions

De-Raz: just wanted to say changed the bio for Shina a little, just a little detail. You guys probably didn't even read it, just thought to say it for those who did. Sorry about taking too long, just too lazy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, if I did Naruto would not be so stupid and Sasuke is dead. But then, that would screw things up, so nvm.

* * *

**Chapter 6: Confessions!:**

It was early morning over the large ninja city of Konohagakure. The sun was beginning to rise above the horizon, lighting up the city with a small morning fog to give the city the impression it was glowing. The light was reflected off the large mountain in the back with the faces of the Hokages carved into it. Most civilians were just beginning to awaken to take part in another day of their daily lives. There could be seen Konoha nin already off into the training grounds to prepare for later adventures, sparring, meditating, practicing jutsu, etc. One ninja, however, was participating in a more… _abnormal_... activity.

This ninja could be seen on the roof of a house that just so happened to be across the street from the bathhouses. This man was easily recognizable by the long, spiked white hair that ran down his back and the red & green shirt he wore over a fishnet shirt. He was wearing a large scroll strapped onto his back and wearing a horned metal headband with the kanji for "oil" on it. Those who paid closer attention could also notice the telescope he was looking through and a notepad laid in front of him with… we'll just say _erotic_… drawings of inspiration.

Looking through the eyeglass, the perverted man was musing to himself on his lucky break for once. "All right! The ANBU women always have the best bodies. This shall be one of my greatest pieces of literature yet! If only it wasn't so hard to keep them from spotting me. Thank god that little brat isn't around for once, these girls probably hit hard."

And as if to curse himself, an ANBU member could be seen appear behind him in a poof of smoke. "Jiraiya-sama?" Though Jiraiya was so into his research that he failed to notice him, falling off the roof and into the street below.

"Yea, what is it?" he asked, not bothering to pick himself up off the ground.

"Hokage-sama has asked that you report to her office immediately" he said, disappearing in another poof.

_Somebody always has to ruin my research, if it isn't that brat it's some stupid messenger _the Gama-sennin (Toad Hermit) thought finally sitting back up. What he failed to notice, however, was the commotion he made was enough to alert the ANBU level kunoichi at the bathhouse, who had wasted no time to gather their towels and spot the man on the ground. Already knowing who he was and what he wrote, the next thing he saw was, to him, a blessing and a curse.

To most perverted men, being surrounded by beautiful women in nothing but towels would seem like a blessing to them. One thing that gave Jiraiya a clue on their true purpose was the shared expression of angry faces with veins popping out of their foreheads.

_Aaawwww shit! _was all he had time to think as he prepared for yet another of his near daily brutal beatings.

**About 1 hour later:**

The first female Hokage Tsunade was gearing up to begin her daily paperwork. In other words, she was figuring out where to stash her sake where Shizune couldn't find it. Unfortunately, most spots she has already used at least twice, so she was a bit irritated knowing she might lose her sake for the day. Having her perverted teammate nearly an hour late to report in did nothing to soothe her temper.

_I swear if him being late has anything to do with research I'll… _though before she could finish painting sadistic thoughts of her fellow Sannin, said person came in through the window covered in bruises and more than a few cuts.

"Sorry I'm late Tsunade-chan, another of those ANBU of yours interrupted some of my precious research and then…" which was when Tsunade decided to release at least some of her pent up anger on the white haired pervert. After waking up about five minutes later on the floor of the Godaime's office with said person gritting her teeth, he decided it was best to not go on recounting his experience.

"So what did you want to talk to me about now Tsunade-chan?" he asked taking a seat on one of the wooden chairs.

Tsunade, finally starting to calm down, was able to answer "I need you to tell Naruto about the Chunnin Exams taking place in a week. You should be able to find him at the hospital."

"The hospital? What, the idiot over exert himself training again?" he asked heading back towards the window.

_He's in for a surprise _Tsunade thought with a small smirk on her face, which Jiraiya failed to notice.

"Kay, but right after I finish some more res…" Though before the unfortunate pervert could get out, Tsunade punched him out followed by a yell of "Do it now you pervert!" that could be heard through the whole Hokage Tower.

_Guess Jiraiya was here _thought the ANBU guards at the door, with all the other workers in there sharing similar sentiments.

**Hospital, another 20 minutes:**

Jiraiya's morning so far could in one word be described as horrible.

First, his wonderful opportunity for research was ruined by some stupid ANBU who did not know when to not sneak up on people.

Second, he ends up getting beat up by ANBU women in towels like so many other times. The pervert had to admit though, he still was able to enjoy that sight before losing consciousness.

Third, he ends up having to report to Tsunade. Not that he ever gets tired of looking at her gigantic breasts, but he always ends up getting beat up at least once in her office, which is the exact case of today.

Finally, he ends up having to go get his apprentice at the hospital. The Gama-sennin had to admit, however, the boy kind of grew on him. He was just so much like his previous student he couldn't help but think about those old days training with him. Just because he was like the Fourth, though, didn't mean he appreciated the chunk of time it took from precious research every time he had to train him. Once the blonde idiot figures out the Chunnin Exams are in a week, there is no way the boy will just let him leave without training.

For some reason only Kami knows, every time his peeking on women in Konoha is interrupted, it's always related to that boy, Naruto.

The scene he saw now, heading into the hospital room Naruto was supposed to be in, made _most _of it all worthwhile.

When he went into the room, at first he wondered where the boy was. Tsunade said he wasn't a patient, so he thought he was here looking out for one of his friends. Looking around the room, however, a frown went on his face as he couldn't see a mess of blonde hair on any chairs in the room. Thinking the boy went back to his shabby apartment (AN: remember Jiraiya hasn't been here for a little bit, so he doesn't know anything that happened so far). As he was turning around to leave again, he saw the blonde mat of hair he could easily recognize as Naruto lying in one of the beds.

The fact that he was holding a beautiful teenage girl with red as fire hair with a bit of yellow and orange in his arms caused Jiraiya's eyes to nearly burst out of their sockets, before turning into one of his trademark perverted grins. The pair of teenagers had apparently not awoken yet by the sunlight streaming into the room.

_Alright Boy, you have finally become more like your sensei! And a girl this hot for his first, I mean I give her two thumbs up! Finally, this brat will be useful for inspiration! _Were a few of his perverted thoughts going through his head as he decided to wake them up.

"Hey gaki wake up already!" he whispered by Naruto's ear. Naruto's eyes began fluttering open and seemed much calmer and _happy _for some reason. Jiraiya, interested in what the pair would do when they woke up, hoping its something he could research on, decided to use his famous invisibility jutsu to hide from their site.

As Naruto was waking up, he could not help but feel that was some of the best sleep he ever had. The blonde hair guy also felt much more warm and at peace. As he looked down, the first thing he noticed was Shina curled into him with a look of innocence planted on her face. Noticing his arms around her body, he began to let go, but only resulted in having the red haired kunoichi snuggle into his muscled chest further. This of course gave him a blush from seeing how she felt good in his arms, though it wasn't like he didn't enjoy having her in his arms either. She seemed more fragile than other girls he knew, and felt an overbearing sense of protection. She seemed so peaceful, he almost decided to leave her like that. However, he knew that they had to get up; she was able to leave the hospital according to Tsunade-obaa-chan now. Leaning his head down towards her ears, he gently whispered words to wake her up.

Shina felt in one word secure. She felt more safe and warm than ever before, that nothing could hurt her anymore. Not her own fears, not her old village, not those two strange men in the robes. Feeling a warm breath against her ear and neck, she immediately froze up until she recognized the voice as Naruto's.

"Good morning Shina-chan, did you sleep well?"

Instantly relaxing into his arms again, she whispered out a "hai" still a tad bit sleepy.

"So I guess you had no nightmares then?" the deep comforting voice said to her. Shina just went with a shake of her head and thanks. "Thanks for comforting me, you didn't have to you know" she said, instead of moving away turning around to face the blonde jinchuuriki.

"Yea, but I wanted to. You're my friend, I'm not gonna let you suffer if I can do something about it." He said finally getting out of bed. He held out a hand to Shina, which she took, warming up from the small contact.

Getting out from the bed, Jiraiya thought it a good time to reveal himself. Getting out of his jutsu, he stood right in front of the pair, making Naruto jump back in surprise and Shina shriek and fall back on the bed.

"Ero-sennin, what are you doing here!" Naruto yelled at the pervert.

"Naruto! You have finally embraced the sanctity that is women! Now you can help me in all my research and…" but before he could continue his congratulations, the blonde shinobi already had him in the ground with a fist.

"It wasn't like that Ero-sennin!" Naruto said, red with a mix of anger and embarrassment.

_Ero-sennin? _The red haired jinchuuriki thought to her self.

Jiraiya began to stand back up. "Brat, how many times must I tell you not to call me that! Besides, I found you sleeping with this beautiful woman, so I thought congrats were in order!"

What he didn't realize saying that was the huge blush on each teenager's cheeks as realization dawned on them. The Kyuubi was rolling around in laughter, and even Hinagusami couldn't hold back a chuckle knowing what thoughts were crossing their minds, mostly perverted.

"I am not a pervert like you Ero-sennin!" Naruto said pounding his sensei into the ground.

"**Then what about the things you were thinking right now kit!" the fox said through his laughing fit, and Naruto quickly told him to shut up.**

"Naru-kun, who is this guy anyway?" Shina asked looking at the heap of clothes and flesh on the ground.

"What, you don't recognize me, I am the great Toad Sannin Jiraiya!" the old man said, getting into his stupid dance (AN: if you've never seen it, lucky you. Though if u really want to see it, it's when Naruto meets him the first time. Go look it up). Though throughout his introduction, Naruto decided to add his own two cents, think of it as his own personal revenge for this morning.

"I have traveled the world going on many adventures…" he began.

"Which mostly includes peeping on naked women" Naruto added.

"I have braved many horrors and survived great fights…"

"As in he gets beat up by naked women when caught"

"I grace the world with great works of literature…"

"He writes perverted dirty novels"

"And I am the master summoner of all toads!"

"Who hate his perverted peeping habits."

"Damn it gaki! You have ruined my incredibly great introduction! And stop calling me a pervert in front of other people!" the white haired sannin said smacking Naruto's head.

"It's not my fault, you're the ero-sennin!" the blonde said, rubbing his head. As they continued bickering, Shina couldn't help but sweat drop at the childish behavior. Though it was amusing enough to give her a smile, like most things Naruto did.

_Is this guy really that much a pervert? They are acting like a couple of little boys _she thought looking at them.

"Umm, Jiraiya-san, is there any real reason you're here?" Shina asked, effectively halting their argument.

"See Naruto, at least somebody knows when to show me respect."

"'Cause she doesn't know you yet" Naruto mumbled mainly to himself.

"Well, yes Shina. Tsunade-chan ordered me away from my precious research to tell both of you the Chunnin Exams are in a week."

At mention of the Chunnin Exams Shina immediately froze up. _The Chunnin Exams, that was when my team… and he…_ though she was snapped out of her thoughts by Naruto waving a hand in front of her face.

"Hey Shina-chan, you okay?" he asked, looking into her eyes, faces not that far apart. A blush came onto her face with a vengeance.

"O, yea, I'm okay Naru-kun" she said regaining her bearings. He could tell it was a lie by the look in her eyes, but didn't press further.

"Anyways, you have to stay and help us train Ero-sennin!" Naruto yelled turning towards the old man.

"Woa, what do you mean _us_? You're lucky enough I train you gaki, why would I train somebody else?" he asked incredulously.

"Aww come on, she's my best friend and teammate, Ero-sennin you have to!" Naruto whined a bit.

"I don't have to do anything, and you calling me ero-sennin isn't helping" he asked crossing his arms.

Naruto sighed. "Shina, could you please turn away, you're not gonna like what you see."

Deciding that it might be best, she turned away covering her eyes. Once she turned around, Naruto made a few Shadow Clones. Instead of attacking Jiraiya, however, he preyed on Jiraiya's weakness of women.

"Harem Jutsu!" Naruto yelled, turning into the familiar female blonde with perfect figure, about 6 of them all holding onto the pervert seductively.

"Pretty please, Jiraiya-san?" the female Naruto's asked in a female seductive voice. The Gama-sennin barely was able to come out with a yes before promptly fainting from blood loss. After Naruto cancelled out the jutsu, he told Shina she could turn around and saw the man on the floor bleeding from his nose.

"Should we help him Naru-kun?"

"Nay, he'll be fine. Just preyed on his perverted weakness to get you a spot. It would just be best to leave it at that." Shina just nodded in agreement.

When Jiraiya came back to the land of the living, he just told both of them to meet at training ground 3 in ten minutes before poofing out of existence.

**Training Ground 3:**

As the pair of jinchuuriki made their way up the hill to the clearing, they could see Jiraiya standing up there waiting.

"Kay, now that you're both here, I need to decide what to train you guys in. I already know you're style Naruto, but how do you like to fight Shina?"

"O, well, I like to fight close in, and then put some space between us for some fire jutsus. It is my affinity, but I also do well with wind jutsus."

Thinking for a minute or two, a light bulb was lit over his head (figuratively, don't think there's a 'light bulb idea' jutsu).

"I know just what to teach you. First of all, I am going to give you some more fire jutsus. With your long hair, I'm also gonna give you one of my personal jutsus. The Hari Jizo will be perfect for defending you and to keep enemies at a distance" he explained, to which Shina nodded enthusiastically.

"Now Naruto, I need to talk to you about something" he said in a surprisingly serious tone, which Naruto knew to comply with. Walking with the toad sennin, they moved to an area out of earshot.

"Naruto, I can tell she is very important to you isn't she?" he asked still saying serious. Looking back at her, the blonde just nodded his head.

"Well, I believe that you should tell her about Kyuubi" but before Naruto could start yelling in protest, the old man already had his hand up. "Think about it Naruto, she is a friend, comrade, and teammate who still doesn't know your secret. What if you activate it during the exams? It would be better to tell her beforehand tan have her distraught with worry about any transformation you do."

Though Naruto hated to admit it, Ero-sennin did make some good points. Even more, it's not like she lost anything to the Kyuubi. She has no vendetta against the demon, so would she hate him. Still, he couldn't help but take a stroll down memory lane of all the time they had spent as friends training and hanging out together. What if she thought he was a demon, the Kyuubi?

"I can tell you need some time to think. I'm not gonna push you to do it, but you never know what is going to happen during the Chunnin Exams. Try to tell her beforehand" he said holding onto the blond gennin's shoulder. With their conversation finished, the two men made their way back to Shina. As they gathered together, Jiraiya made a shadow clone of himself; one would go with Shina to teach her jutsus at one end of the clearing, while the original stayed with Naruto to teach him some wind jutsus at another. So there plan for training the whole week would be a light spar in the morning with taijutsu and ninjutsu, then lunch, and finally practicing their jutsu in the afternoon.

The first wind jutsu Jiraiya taught him was Wind Style: Decapitating Winds, which was basically a powerful gust of wind to push back enemies and injure them. Naruto used about 1000 clones each day in training, so he had 300 learn this jutsu, but he sent the other 700 to work on something else. When asked what those clones were doing, Naruto just told Jiraiya it was a surprise.

Meanwhile, the other Jiraiya taught Shina the Hira Jizo technique. He told her that to do it; she just stimulates the density and shape of her hair by using chakra to make it into a spike wall around her. Though on the first day, she was having a bit of trouble controlling arranging all the hair, she began to get the hang of it.

Both of them were able to master these jutsus by their second day of training. As they continued on the week, they continued learning wind and fire techniques, which they didn't fail to incorporate into their sparing matches. The end of the week was fast approaching, however, and Naruto had still not decided on whether to tell Shina or not he has the Kyuubi inside of him. On one point, she might accept him like most of his friends have, but then she might think of him as the Kyuubi like the villagers. As the week was ending, Naruto could also see Shina becoming more nervous and anxious, but for what reason he had no idea.

On the final day before the Chunnin Exams, Jiraiya had told them the day before they should have the day off to rest.

They each got out of bed and had breakfast together like usual, discussing what they should do for the day. When that was finished, they just decided to take a walk around the village together.

As they were walking through the town, they discussed strategies and other things that did with the Chunnin Exams. Neither of them, however, wanted to talk about their past Chunnin exams. It just brought up painful memories for each of them; Shina of her past home, and Naruto of Sakura and the beginning of Sasuke's betrayal. After having lunch, they decided to sit at a park bench to relax, watching some kids play. Naruto had an arm wrapped around Shina's waist, though she didn't mind too much, resting her head on his shoulder. When she saw parents coming by to get kids, however, she saw them give looks of disgust at Naruto, though when she looked at Naruto it didn't seem to faze him at all, like he was used to it. They just decided to rest like that for a few hours, Naruto still lost in his thoughts. Truthfully, he was still thinking about what Jiraiya had told him on the first day of training.

_Should I tell her, I mean she is my friend, but_...?

"**Kit, you are pretty dense, even in human standards aren't you?" a familiar voice mocked.**

_What are you talking about fox-teme! _He yelled out to the fox

"**Well, let's see… you still haven't told her about me when it's obvious she wouldn't care, so ya I think that makes you a baka" Kyuubi stated matter-of-factly. "Look at her; she's leaning on your damn shoulder like it's the most comforting thing in the world with your arm around her. Does that seem like something just a friend would do? She freaking loves you damn baka!"**

_Stop lying teme! She only wants to be my friend, nothing more… _he thought, a bit sadly at the end.

"**Well, if that's what you think, but either way, your other friends know me already, but your vixen doesn't. So tell her already!" he yelled.**

Ignoring the vixen comment, Naruto kept thinking on what he should do. At the same time, the red headed kunoichi was having her own conversation with her inner demon.

"**Well, the Chunnin Exams is tomorrow isn't it, how do you feel?" Hinagusami asked her vessel.**

_I don't know, I'm so nervous, but with Naruto-kun by me I feel safe. But still, what if something happened to him? What if I fail my teammate again? Naruto-kun has done so much for me, I wish there was something I could do. _

"**It is okay to be worried, but there is something I think you should do before the Exam."**

_What is it? _Shina asked curious.

"**You should confess about me" she said as if it was nothing.**

_What?! But then he'll hate me, and then I'll have nobody again! I know that isn't what I want._

"**Child, I do not think that he would hate you. With all the time you spent with him, does he seem like the type of person to do that?"**

_Well, not really, but still…_

"**But nothing! You care about him a lot, and I can tell he cares for you too. If you really want him to be a friend, you should not keep me secret from him. Tell him today, before the Chunnin Exams" the phoenix said, leaving the girl to her own thoughts.**

_Maybe Hina-san is right, maybe I should tell him? I'll see if he knows a place we can talk in private._

Coming back to the real world, Shina saw the sun was beginning to set.Looking at Naruto's face, she saw how he was silently enjoying the peace now that there were few people around, a small smile on his face. When he turned, he gave Shina one of his foxy grins, which seemed to always speed up her heartbeat.

"Naruto-kun, do you know where we could talk somewhere in private." He gave her a questioning look, but was soon replaced with another smile.

"O, yea, sure! It also has a very good view. Can you close your eyes? I want it to be a surprise."

"Sure Naruto-kun" Shina said, putting one hand over her eyes while she let Naruto guide her by grabbing her other hand. After what seemed like a long time, Naruto finally seemed to stop moving. He brought Shina right next to him, and had her sit down. When he finally told her she could look, she uncovered her eyes to see a spectacular sight.

It was the entire city of Konoha that seemed right beneath their feet. She could see all the people still walking around finishing up the day, some of the lights beginning to light up, giving it a feel of life. The sun was about halfway done setting, painting the normally blue sky with hues of orange, red, and purple. It was basically breathtaking to her.

"Wow, Naru-kun, it's beautiful. Where are we?" she asked, still taking it all in. It gave Naruto a great feeling to see her in awe, the look on her face a bit amusing.

But, he had to ruin the moment to see what she wanted to say. "We are on the Hokage Mountain right now, I'm sure nobody can bother us here. What is it you wanted to tell me, though?" the question immediately made her frown a bit, a look of deep sadness in her eyes.

"You know how I had to run away from my village right?" she asked sadly, to which he nodded.

"Well, I just wanted to tell you why" she said, causing him to widen his eyes a bit.

"You see, nearly 16 years ago, there was this mountain by our village that said to have some demon bird inside it. That demon one day attacked our village, and the leader asked for some help from neighboring villages. Nobody helped until your Sandaime Hokage gave him a scroll for this jutsu that could seal it into a person. It was called the 'Shiki Fuujin' I think" she said, making Naruto look at her in surprise. She had her hands in fists, and looked like she was about to cry. Shina took a deep breath, and kept on going.

"He saw how it required the user to die and a newborn child to seal the demon in, so he volunteered to do the jutsu. There was only one child who was young enough to survive, so he… (starting to cry) he… he sealed it in me!" she said, latching on to Naruto, like he would disappear if he let go. He had a look of complete shock on his face, as she explained how her parents had died during the attack of the demon, and her brother Bakku looked after her at the orphanage. She went on to explain how everyone was knew what she was, so everyone hated her except her brother, but one day a mob tried to kill her, but instead killed her brother when he defended her, so she was alone for years. By this time, Naruto had gotten over his initial shock, tears of sympathy from his own memories streaming down his face.

He wrapped his own arms around her, and kissed her head, stroking one hand down her silky red hair. She felt a bit better sitting there with his arms around her, a warm feeling flowing through her, calming her down. Looking up from his chest, she could see his deep sapphire eyes looking down at her with sympathy, kindness, and love maybe? Seeing Shina like this, Naruto thought it would be best to expose his own secret.

"So, you dealt with it too? Glares, people telling you you're a monster, nobody to look after you, nobody who even cared if you lived or died?" he spoke with a voice laced in depression and loneliness. She looked at him in shocked surprise at how he knew what her life was like. Before she could ask any questions, though, he already began to explain.

"You know the Kyuubi attack around 16 years ago, right. How the Yondaime gave his life to destroy it and save this village?" he asked sadly, and she nodded her head.

"Well, that was a lie" he put bluntly, making her gasp in surprise. "He couldn't kill it; no human can kill a demon, so he used the same sealing technique your village used. There was only one child that day he could seal it in, so he sealed it into that child. That child was me" he said, and hugged her even tighter, to which she responded in kind. "I went through the same thing you did, but I was still a bit better. All the villagers hated me, but at least I still had Oji-san. I'm sorry" he said. Shina just responded by wiping his tears away from his pools of sapphire.

"There is nothing to be sorry for. There is still more to my story, though" she said, getting a look from Naruto. "You see, at the last Chunnin Exams, my team was composed of me and two other guys my age. One was like everyone else, who only tolerated having me around because it would help him be a Chunnin. The other guy, his name was Cadara, actually tried being a friend to me. He was maybe the only guy who didn't hate me, he would talk to me. But during the second exam, something awful happened…"

**Flashback (hey, my second one won't be too long):**

_The team of three nin was traveling through a thick forest area, searching for other teams to take the scrolls from. One was a boy who had brown hai that was a bit unruly and eyes, and was about an average height. The one in the middle was the tallest guy between the three, and he had jet black hair that reached down to his shoulders with black eyes to match. The one on the right was actually a girl, with long red hair with orange and blonde mixed in at the end, with a strange orange shade for eyes. _

"_Cadara, can you sense any opponents around" the man in black called to his teammate._

"_Not yet, Dabura, what about you Shina?" the guy with brown hair asked the girl._

"_No, nothing Cad- wait, I think there might be some people, 400 m to the right."_

"_Cadara, Shina" he spat the name of the girl, though she seemed unfazed. "You guys take the lead, I'll provide backup."_

"_Hai" the two shorter nins said moving to spot their target. As the trio got close to the targets, they saw they were in the middle of a clearing. Looking around, the three soon heard a male voice among the trees._

"_Ah, perfect, another team to kill." _

"_Get ready" Cadara said, the three getting into their taijutsu styles. The trio soon saw three waterfall nins jump down ahead of them, an air of confidence around them. The one in the front of the waterfall nins spoke first._

"_Give us your scroll, and we might let you live."_

"_Like hell we will!" Cadara yelled, throwing a kunai at them. The middle Waterfall nin caught it between his fingers, quickly throwing it back at the owner. Shina's team dodged then began to charge. Dabura and the middle nin, who was apparently the leader, began slashing and fighting with kunai drawn. The other nins had a two on two match. _

_Cadara and Shina worked well together, keeping the Waterfall nin on the defensive. Cadara then appeared behind one of the nin and stabbed him in the back, but it bled water instead of blood, before turning completely into a puddle. Before Cadara could react, the nin kicked him into Shina, who was still fighting the other nin. The pair got up fast, making handsigns. Cadara yelled "Wind Style: Great Breakthrough" and at the same time Shina yelled "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower jutsu!" The wind from Cadara's technique helped fuel the fire of her jutsu, so it burned the nin quite a bit. What they didn't expect was for the pair to turn into logs. As they looked around, Cadara spotted a torrent of water heading towards them. He had just enough time to push Shina out of the way before getting hit with it himself and slammed into a tree. Before Shina could move to help him, she was hit by a ration jutsu that left her momentarily paralyzed and in great pain._

_As she was standing up shakily, the pair of Waterfall nin charged toward her, kunai raised to stab her. Putting her arms out in front of her, she closed her eyes waiting for the pain. Shina heard metal rip through flesh, but when she didn't feel pain she looked at a horrible scene that would be forever sketched into her memory._

_Cadara was standing in front of her, kunai piercing his body at where his stomach and where it might have hit his heart. He still had the energy, however, to make the handsigns for a fire jutsu. Too shocked he was still alive, the waterfall nin had no time to escape the attack, and were reduced to heaps of burnt flesh. After that, he fell back into Shina's arms, tears shedding fast over her dying teammate. _

_All she could do was hold him, crying and muttering apologies and how she was too weak. _

_Cadara still had some energy to speak. "Don't…be sorry…Shina. I wanted to, I thought…it could help you…to see…there are people… who will care about you… out…there (cough). People…who (cough) will be… your friends. You should leave…and be… happy. I just wish…I (cough) could…have…been…your…friend" were the last things he said as his eyes closed, his breathing stopped, and he went to rest in the eternal darkness. After maybe a minute, Dabura showed up with his own sets of cuts and bruises, a dead Waterfall nin hanging on his shoulder. Looking at the scene, he could only look at his dead teammate in pity, but anger at the phoenix container. _

_Seeing as without their teammate they failed, the pair left the forest, to give the dead body to be taken care of, not a word spoken between the two the entire way._

_In the next few months, Shina was stuck in a depression. Dabura told her how it was her fault since she was too weak, and had asked for transfer to another team, which was quickly agreed on. The entire village, especially Cadara's family blamed her for his death. Despite what he said, she still felt it was her fault he died. Though, she couldn't let go on his words about leaving the village. Were there really people who would accept her, maybe even like her out there? She had to know. The red haired kunoichi had packed some important items with her, including a picture of her brother she kept with her at all times. She then left the village, planning to never return. _

_However, the leader was not about to let her escape so easily. He soon sent out a pair of hunter nin to search for her. She had evaded them most of the time, using skills at evasion and hiding she had developed as being a hated child constantly on the run from mobs. At the times when they would find her, she would barely escape, finding energy she didn't know she had. After what must have been two weeks of running, she found herself in a forest, nearly out of energy. Though it seemed the hunter nin had stopped, she hadn't. Her injuries had not been healed, and she was barely able to make it out of the forest before spotting a person. _

_She called out for help and passed out._

**End Flashback:**

"So that's the reason you left?" he asked Shina, said girl still in his arms just nodded.

She then spoke up again. "It's also why I'm afraid of what might happen at these exams."

"Afraid?" he asked, a look of curiosity on his whiskered face. A look, by the way, Shina couldn't help but find cute, like a child's.

"Yes. Naru-kun… I don't know what I would do if something happened to you. I just…I just don't want you to die!" Shina said, fear gripping onto her heart. "I care about you too much, what if I fail you too? What if I'm too weak?"

Looking down, Naruto brought one of his hands under the girl container's chin, lifting her head up to meet eye to eye.

"I promise, Shina-chan, nothing is going to happen to me. I will never leave you, believe it!" he shouted like he was a child again. Though, she couldn't help but believe him, the confidence in his voice gave her confidence in him. She just looked up at him from his chest, happiness clearly evident in her eyes. Not that it wasn't practically glowing from his own pools of sapphire.

After those confessions, they just sat there in each other's arms looking over the beautiful sight of Konoha, content in the warmth they gave each other. As it was getting dark, Naruto's stomach grumbled, initiating a blush of embarrassment on the blonde and a bunch of giggles from the red head girl next on his lap.

"I'm thinking Ichiraku, is that fine with you?" the blonde asked, rubbing his sheepishly and giving off a trademark foxy grin that always made her weak at the knees.

"O yea, I'd love to" she said, Naruto picking her up still in his arms, to which they both noticed and gave them a great blush. Though they separated from the hug, neither of which liked, they still held each others hands as they went off the mountain.

Unaware to the pair of jinchuuriki, a young man could be seen hiding among the trees. Though it was hard to make out any details in the darkness, you could still see the gray hair and the glare coming off the Hitae-ate with the design of a musical note sketched into it. There was also a glare for a second from his glasses as he pushed them up onto the bridge of his nose.

"Hmmm, two jinchuuriki, I must tell Orochimaru-sama of these new developments." And with that he disappeared as though he was never there.

**Unknown Location:**

In the darkness of the underground labyrinth, it was difficult for even the best of eyes to make out the details of its occupants. As the gray haired man came in through the door, he could make out two silhouettes; one sitting down but could still tell he was tall and skinny. The other, however, looked like the size of a teenager, near six feet tall.

The one who had entered the room kneeled down to the one sitting on his 'throne'.

"Orochimaru-sama, I have finished my research on Naruto as you asked" he said.

"And, what did you disssscover about our little jinchuuriki Kabuto?" the man hissed at the subordinate.

The man in question just smirked, replying "He will not be a threat to our plans, but there is something that is unexpected." At this Orochimaru just looked at Kabuto questioningly.

"And what would that be?"

"The presence of a second container." At this the snake man's eyes widened a bit, before quickly reverting into an evil smirk.

"No matter, nobody can interfere with my planssss this time. My ultimate creations are ready, and soon, Konoha will be mine! Not only that, but sssoon Sasuke, you shall gain the Mangekyo Sharingan, and will finally be ready to become my body."

"And then, I shall have the power to kill my brother!" the teen said, eyes blazing red with three black tomae in each eye.

* * *

De-raz: Sorry about taking so long, I was just being lazy 

Naruto: Well at least you're finally done. Now we finally have the Chunnin Exams, Yea!

De-raz: Yep, next chapter is the chunnin exams. Planning a few surprises for these tests.

Naruto: Surprises?

De-raz: Of course, I don't want it to be too much like the actual one, right?

Naruto: But I like it that way! Then I know what to do!

De-raz: Well… Too bad!

Naruto: You suck (sticks tongue out)!

Shina: Don't make fun of the author!

De-raz: Yea what she said, Ha! (sticks tongue out back)

Shina: (sighs) they're like children

Anyways, next chapter: Chunnin Exams, GO!

Please Read and Review


	7. Chunnin Exams, New Friends

De-raz: Kay, finally the chunnin exams! Time to get things started!

Naruto: Alright, time to kick ass

De-raz: You know, I might make you fail…(evil grin)

Naruto: You wouldn't!!!

De-raz: Probably not, but I might…you'll just have to wait.

Naruto: Aww man, you are evil.

Also, gonna try to make the Japanese names for jutsus used, might be different, but its not like I have a Naruto Encyclopedia of jutsu translations to use, so just go with it. Thanks for that input.

Want to thank some of these people who reviewed for the past two chapters.

**Scione, Arashi the Shadow Wolf, Black64, Demoncreator2002, Ero-kun, Jaffar8**

Remember, review and I might put your name for recognition on here.

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, I would be very disturbed in the head to have Lee and Gai the way they are now.

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**Chapter 7: Chunnin Exams, New Friends!:**

It was early morning in Konohagakure. There were plenty of shinobi out on the streets, beginning the day. Not all of them were natural citizens, however. A lot came from different villages all around the world. Konoha, Suna, Kiri, Iwa, Cloud, and other minor villages. They were all here to prove their worth as shinobi and rise to the ninja rank of Chunnin at the Chunnin Exams.

Walking down the street was two Konoha nins, one a tall boy with messy, spiked blonde hair that had a Konoha hitae-ate keeping it up. His face was accentuated with deep sapphire eyes and three whisker marks lined on each cheek. He was also wearing different clothes for the occasion, to pleading from his girl teammate. He was wearing a black muscle shirt and over it was a red no hood jacket with the kanji for fox on the back. He also had on regular black cargo pants but with an orangish red spiral pattern on his kunai holster. The blonde also wore black fingerless gloves with metal plates on also donning the spiral shape and black shinobi shoes.

The other was a girl with long red hair that went down to her lower back. At the end of it, it blended into an orange and yellow tip, as though it was on fire. Her eyes and an orange with red tint in them. She was wearing a flame red shirt that showed with black cargo shorts, all of which showed off her curves modestly. She was also wearing gloves like her boy teammate, but hers were engraved with a flame design. She was wearing shinobi sandals with a deep red color.

They were each walking down towards the Konoha Academy, preparing to take a major test in their shinobi career. They were nervous of course, they could die after all, but easily hid it better than other more rookie participants they passed by.

Walking up towards the second floor of the academy, they could see a group of gennin gathering around a door.

_Heh, how nostalgic. Seems they need to be a bit more original _were a couple of thoughts going through the blonde kids head. The pair already saw through the pathetic genjutsu, but wanting to have little competition just went by not garnering attention, and headed to the third floor (AN: What, he must have gotten a bit smarter in three years right?). As they were heading to the large double doors near the end of the hall, they saw a familiar person greeting them.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei!" the blonde jinchuuriki yelled to the masked jounin.

"Yo" he added in his usual lazy manner, his face not leaving the contents of his favorite piece of literature.

"Hello, Kakashi-sensei" she said in a more normal tone.

"Well, I'm just here to tell you guys that you're clear to head in. The Hokage was able to get you two special permission as a two man team."

"Whoa, I totally forgot we needed three people" he said rubbing the back of his head, the other two face faulting.

Kakashi just coughed to gather their attention. "Well, just wanted to say good luck to you two, it will be different than last time Naruto."

"Of course, I know that sensei."

"You forgot you needed three people, so I wasn't sure" he said lazily, causing an outburst from his blonde student.

"Come on Naru-kun, we don't want to be late."

"Yea Naruto, go have fun in there with your girlfriend" the lazy jounin said, disappearing before Naruto could recover from embarrassment to yell at him.

"Forget about him, lets go Shina-chan" he said to the girl beside him, following after recovering from her thoughts of them together.

As they headed through the doors, the first thing they noticed was how many people there were. There must have been just as many shinobi the last time Naruto took it, maybe more. The bad part was when most teams gave them glares, some adding a bit of killing intent, hoping to chase out hopeless cases in fear. Neither Naruto nor Shina were afraid of them, however, dealing with much worse than this. They each found a seat next to a bar full of food, one that Naruto would know Chouji would love to have his fill of. Looking around the room, Naruto spotted a team of shinobi with the uniform of a certain village that made his eyes widen in surprise. Looking at the hitae-ate, the musical note engraved on it told him it was the Sound Village.

_Sound ninja! They must know where Sasuke is! If I could get them to tell me, we might be able to bring him back! _While the blonde haired gennin was lost in these thoughts, a group of three young teens made there way over to the pair. As Naruto spotted the trio coming towards them, he immediately recognized who they were.

"Konohamaru, Moegi, Udon! You guys are here!?" He shouted enthusiastically, while Shina wondered who they were.

The one in the middle had dark brown hair in a spiked fashion with a long blue scarf around his neck. He was wearing a long sleeve shirt and some brown pants. He also had on black shinobi sandals and the Konoha headband tied on his forehead. To his left was another boy wearing glasses and a girl to the brown haired boy's right. Both of them also wore their hitae-ate on their foreheads.

"Hey Boss!" yelled the trio in response. As the kids came over, the brown haired boy noticed the pretty red haired girl standing with Naruto. Already having some thoughts, Konohamaru was not one to keep thoughts in his head.

"Hey Boss, is this pretty girl your girlfriend?" he asked, giving the pair of older shinobi another massive blush.

Thinking that Shina was getting mad, Naruto was quick to snip it in the bud this time. "No, Konohamaru, this is my best friend Shina" though as he said this, Shina slumped her shoulders unnoticeably and a disappointed face that left as quickly as it came.

"Shina, from left to right are Udon, Konohamaru, and Moegi" he said pointing to each teen. As they were exchanging greetings, Konohamaru decided on getting some snacks from the buffet table, giving something to each of them. As four of them were about to take their first bit, however, Naruto quickly took it from them all.

"Hey Boss, why did you steal all the food!" Konohamaru Corps. said to the blonde.

"Just watch" he explained as he applied some chakra to the pieces. As he was putting in more chakra, the group could see the food slowly changing color before he stopped the chakra flow, the food changed back to normal.

"Just as I thought, its tampered" the blonde jinchuuriki said throwing them away.

"Y-you mean poisoned" said Konohamaru a bit scared of what he almost did to his friends. Naruto just ruffled the kid's hair, getting him a bit riled up.

"I doubt it, probably just something to knock people out. Kakashi was right, there are some twists."

Shina was curious at how Naruto knew. "Naruto, where did you learn that technique?"

"O, Ero-sennin taught it to me. He thought it would be a good idea to make sure I never eat something that could be poisoned with something in case Akatsuki ever did something like that. Let me say the better time of a month was spent with me in the hospital or the bathroom" he said rubbing the back of his head. "Hey Konohamaru, are there any other leaf gennin in these exams?"

"Nope, its just you two and us Boss. I can't wait for us to battle, I haven't forgotten that battle you promised me to see who should be Hokage!"

Naruto just gave one of his uncommon truthful smiles at the gennin. "Of course I didn't forget, I never go back on a promise. Just don't expect to win Konohamaru."

"You'll see, I've been training super hard!" Konohamaru just cheered out enthusiastically. At that time, the proctors for the first exam appeared into the room. In the front was a familiar pale eyed Hyuuga with long brown hair. His eyes held a commanding gaze to everyone in the room, promising pain to those foolish enough to defy him.

He spoke in the cold commanding voice consistent to the Hyuuga Clan. "Quiet up scum. The first part of the Chunnin Exams is about to begin." His voice sent a shiver down everybody's spine, his gaze adding to the effect.

_Man, did he have Hiashi train him for this or what? _was all Naruto could think seeing the feared looks on some younger gennin.

"Before we begin, I would like to tell you all a little secret. If you ate the food on that table there, I have one thing to say to them." With that, he snapped his fingers, causing ten teams of shinobi to fall to the ground asleep.

"You fail" he said to the shinobi already asleep from the effects of the food's poison. Once they were on the ground, his gaze shifted to those still standing in the room.

"A good shinobi will look carefully at all possible dangers, never dropping his guard. The rest of you, get a number for your seat. You have one minute to get your seat, GO!" he yelled, the gennin scrambling for the papers. Naruto got number 32, while Shina took number 67. Naruto had a spot closer to the front of the room, and Shina was in the middle rows near the left end. As Neji explained the rules, Naruto found them to be basically the same as his last time, so he just ignored them and looked around the room.

He himself was sitting by a couple of grass and cloud nin, but looking around more, he found one of the sound nin in the back, one near the top left corner, and the last guy a couple of seats down from him. Naruto also found Konohamaru and his friends pretty close to each other, two rows behind Shina.

Neji told them they had an hour to go, and so they all began the test. As some of the people were looking at the questions trying to decipher what the hell it is even asking, he already knows the point is to cheat. Luckily, he already came up with a way to do this a while ago.

Looking up from his test, Naruto added a small amount of demonic chakra to his eyes, just enough for the pupil to become slits but stay blue. It was a certain skill Kyuubi taught him to heighten senses when he needed to. Naruto just had to apply some chakra to the area that needed heightening, and became much greater, perfect for scouting around for enemies. The blonde's eyes, for example, had similar effects as the Byakugan right now, though the range was not nearly as long and seeing through objects was even harder. With his now slitted eyes, Naruto was easily able to look at the persons test in front of him without seeming to suspicious, hopeful that he wouldn't be caught.

Shina, had a much easier way to answer the questions laid out before her. Unlike Naruto, her demon Hinagusami was eagerly willing to help her, so she was able to ask the phoenix for the answers. If an eons old demon didn't know these answers the red head seriously doubted the proctors knew.

Konohamaru Corps. had their own style of communicating the answers to each other. Udon was their most intelligent member, so he was able to answer enough questions needed to pass. From there, they had a special headset hidden by a complex genjustsu taught by Ebisu and placed by Moegi. Udon first gave the answers to Moegi, who copied them down and then gave them to Konohamaru, who also wrote them down. The sound nin were able to listen to the unique sounds the pencil made for each word and copied them down from here. Plenty of other teams were cheating using their own special skills, but that didn't stop around 20 teams to be caught easily and sent out of the room.

As the test reached the first 45 minutes, Neji once again spoke up in front of the classroom.

"Pencils down! It is time to hand out the final question. Before I do, however, there are a few more rules that need to be explained, so keep quiet!" Neji might not be an interrogator who played mind games like Ibiki, but the tone of his voice, added with the glare from his pale Hyuuga eyes, sure scared the shit out of most of the gennin. As he explained the rules, Naruto noticed Shina was beginning to get nervous. Naruto just looked back and gave her a look that said 'don't worry, it's all work out in the end,' which succeeded in keeping her from quitting.

Over the course of probably ten minutes, about 10 teams left, leaving about 8 teams still left in the exam room. There was Naruto & Shina, Konohamru Corps., the sound team, a rock team, a mist team, a grass team, a cloud team, and finally a snow team. Seeing that none of them showed uncertainty to his Byakugan, Neji decided to finish the exam.

"Well, time for the final question. The last question is…." The teams other than Naruto & Shina were hanging on the edge of his words, making him smirk with the reactions he was too sure of getting. "You pass!" He said in a more cheerful tone that did not seem to fit in the tough guy persona he was wearing the whole exam. Naruto already knew about this, and had told Shina this would happen if the test would be the same again, so only Naruto and Shina weren't surprised at this news. They in fact had a hard time stifling the laughter threatening to exit their mouths at the others reactions.

As Neji began the speech of why the test was taken this way, Naruto just gave Shina a friendly smile, a way to congratulate her. She couldn't help but feel the heat rise to her cheeks the way he smiled at her. Looking at the other teams, however, Naruto consistently glared at the sound nins. Shina was a bit worried over how Naruto reacted to them, she wondered what they did to him. Naruto had decided that he didn't want to burden the beautiful red head with his troubles when she had her own, so he never bothered to tell her about Sasuke and Sound. It was his promise to bring him back, and felt it was his responsibility.

Once Neji had finished the explanation, two green blur broke through the window, the Chunnin hopefuls could hear a shout that sounded like "Konoha Senpuu!" As the blur exposed itself, Neji could only shake his head at the pair of idiots exposing themselves to be wearing green spandex costumes, the source of the green blurs, and wore orange leg warmers. Both of them also wore jounin vests, though the younger and smaller of the pair also had bandages around his arms. Their wardrobe might have been classified as weird to the non-Konoha nins, but their looks just crept them out. The pair could be mistaken as twins, each having bowl cuts and humungous eyebrows.

_O god, not them! _were the thoughts on every Konoha nin's minds when they were seen, even Neji who was already banging his head on the chalkboard.

The two people in front finally began talking, or more like yelling, both giving the 'good guy pose'. "Congratulations, the Springtime of Youth has guided you through the first exam. I am Rock Lee, your second youthful examiner!"

The bigger version of the pair just started hugging Lee and crying anime tears, Lee was doing the same thing as well. There was also of course the indescribable evil that is the "Green Beast of Konoha Genjustu" (AN: O yea, just made that name up, give me some credit!) made with the sunset and beach background.

"Ah, Lee, your youthful proclamation brings me great pride to be your sensei! Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

As they were going through this, Neji just increased the intensity of his head banging, eventually hitting himself so hard he passed out. The scene Neji made would have the nin rolling over in laughter, but the non-Konoha nin were too traumatized by Gai and Lee's Genjutsu. Each team had their own thoughts, eyes twitching.

Sound: _If we kidnapped these two, they'd make useful torture devices for Orochimaru-sama._

Snow: _Wow, Naruto-san has to deal with this all the time, I pity him._(I'll explain why they know him later.)

Naruto: **"Brat, you sure I can't kill them, or at least tear out their vocal cords" Kyuubi growled. **

_For once, I'll agree with you it is tempting, but we still can't._

"**Gaki."**

Shina: _I wish there were people like these two at my village, I would have left so much sooner or risk going insane._

**Hinagusami just replied "You would have probably gone insane first."**

_Good point._

Rock: _Must…not…kill. Must…not…smash, damn it._

Cloud: They were just too freaked out to having anything to think about them.

Mist: _I hope the second test has something to do with giving them bodily harm._

Konohamaru Corps.: _I pity the Boss greatly, dealing with this so much._

Grass: They weren't thinking of much, but they each were reaching for their weapons. Obviously less restraint on starting a fight.

Before the Gras nin, or anybody else who lost their minds, could attack though, they were already finished.

"All, right, now all you youthful contestants will meet up with us two tomorrow at training ground 44 at eight o'clock. In the meantime Lee, we shall run 200 laps around Konoha to show off the Flames of Youth to these competitors!"

"Yosh, Gai-sensei! And if I can't do that, I shall do 500 pushups!"

"That is the spirit Lee, now let's get moving!" With that, they were already out the door. With Neji still passed out on the floor, the chunnin-hopefuls just sweatdropped, then left snickering at the sight of an elite jounin lying on the ground.

Naruto and Shina left the academy, proud of passing the first exam. While they were walking away though, the blonde haired shinobi heard a person calling for him. Turning around, he saw the Snow village shinobis walking up to him.

Seeing them in front of them, Naruto had a better look at them. There were two boys and one girl (AN: it always seems 2 boys and a girl or all boys, weird.) all wearing heavy grey jackets. The boys each wore ice blue snow pants with white pockets, but the girl wore deep blue snow shorts, while the rest of her legs were bandaged in multiple layers.

Though they each had a white mask over the lower half of their faces, the boy in the middle, who was the shortest of the three, had brown eyes and hair that spiked up. He had his kunai pouch on his left thigh, and a belt with some of its own pockets. The boy wore his own hitae-ate on his right bicep.

The boy to the left of him was the tallest of the three, probably the leader. He had dark grey eyes, and hair as white as the snow from his country. This snow nin wore his hitae-ate around his head like Naruto. The strange part was that he had no eyebrows, it reminded Naruto of a certain missing-nin from Mist. He was also wearing dark grey gloves that covered his whole hand, and carried an average sized tsurugi on his back. From what Naruto could see, the sheath was black with white markings on it, and the grip was white, the hilt black with gold edging on it.

Finally, the girl had ice blue eyes with a darker blue for her hair that she braided down to below her shoulders. Her jacket had no hood like the boys did, and she had fingerless gloves that had metal and her hitae-ate was on her right thigh just below her kunai holster. She also wore a smaller holster on her left thigh, possibly for a smaller type of projectile. The one with no eyebrows showed indifference, while the other two seemed to be more happy than their sword wielding teammate.

Naruto was a bit confused on what they had to say to him, he was the competition after all. He just scratched the back of his head saying "Uhhh, not to sound rude, but have I met any of you before?"

The boy in the middle spoke first. "O, sorry, where are my manners. My name is Ryo Senjaku."

The girl next to him spoke next "Jui Mina is my name."

"Hukota Gudo" the tallest snow nin replied gruffly.

"Don't mind his attitude, he always seems to have an ugly mood" Senjaku replied, gaining an icy glare from Gudo. Mina wanted to diffuse the situation fast. "Well, we know you're Uzumaki Naruto, but who is your friend?"

"This is my best friend and teammate, Shina" the blonde said while wrapping an arm around her shoulders. It of course gave her a small blush at the close contact of her crush. Now Naruto just wanted a couple of answers. "So, you guys know who I am, but how?"

The girl decided to explain. "All of Snow Country has heard about you. It was because of you and your team that Princess Yukie, or more Queen Yukie now, that she returned to Snow Country. The condition of our country has never been better, and it is thanks to you."

You could almost see the expansion of Naruto's head. "Yea, I am pretty awesome" he bragged, flexing his biceps. Shina just giggled at the display, while the snow kunoichi did too. Gudo and Senjaku just sweatdropped. "So, I guess Yukie is doing alright then?"

Mina was the one to continue the conversation. "Yes, she has been really happy being the queen now."

Naruto laughed about that a little. "Really? When I was guarding her she didn't even want to go back to Snow Country. (Whispers to Mina) To tell you the truth, she was pretty bitchy when I met her at first." This gave Naruto a disapproving glance from the kunoichi.

The shorter boy finally decided to speak up "Well, we just wanted to meet the guy who helped our village so much. If you ever need any help, our country would welcome you with open arms." During the whole conversation, Gudo managed to keep his air of indifference until now.

"You seem strong. Make it past the second round, I hope to fight you in the finals." Apparently he doesn't usually say this much at once, because Senjaku and Mina had shoked expressions on their faces. Gudo just ignored it and turned to walk to their hotel.

"Be careful, Naruto, he is the strongest one of us for sure" Senjaku said, before turning to follow his teammate. Mina said her goodbyes too before following after him.

Seeing the smile on Naruto's face, Shina couldn't help but feel happy about others appreciating him. _Naruto, you might not be liked by the villagers, but I'll always stick by you. It appears I am not the only one who sees you as the hero you are either, others will seem to be there. _"Well, Naruto, it appears that more people like you than you think."

Naruto was just looking off in the direction the snow nins left, the smile never leaving his face. _Maybe there are others who can consider me a hero. If not Konoha, then maybe somewhere else in the world, people could see me as…me. The way the Fourth wanted me to be seen. _Looking towards Shina, he felt the now familiar warmth from just being with her, able to look at her elegant face, her hair blowing slightly in the wind. "Come on, it'll be a good idea to make a strategy and get some rest for the next exam." With that suggestion in mind, the Konoha jinchuuriki were on their way to their apartment to prepare for the next phase.

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De-raz: Okay, the first part of the Chunnin Exams is over, next will be the second.

Naruto: Will there be fighting in that one?

De-raz: (Smirks sadistically) of course.

Naruto: All right! Wait...you're not gonna make me lose right?

De-raz: No,no,no of course not (crosses fingers)

Naruto: I saw that!

De-raz: You never know.

Thanks for all you guys' support on this, despite my lack of quick updating abilities. Hope you keep reading, enjoy!

Please R&R


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